By Mackenzie Proukou (M.S. in Commerce ’27)
A year and a half ago, I was wrapping up my junior year at the University of Richmond and gearing up to start my first internship. At UR, all Leadership Studies majors are required to complete a summer internship in order to graduate. It was time for me to take my first steps down one possible career path. As a Leadership Studies and Creative Writing double major, my undergraduate coursework meant writing poetry, completing a research paper about how Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” depicts trauma response, and analyzing the films of Alfred Hitchcock. I had let my passion for reading, writing, movies, and music drive my decision about what to study completely, without putting much thought into what I would do when the time came to become a Spider alum. This made for an incredible undergraduate experience filled with intellectual and personal growth, but my majors did not translate quite as clearly to career pathing as others. When one of my Leadership Studies professors, Dr. Kristin Bezio, connected me with the owner of Host of Sparrows Aerial Circus in Richmond, I leaped at the opportunity to work directly with the Owner and Founder of the company, Heather Bailey. As a Marketing and Publicity Intern, I hoped to contribute meaningfully to the professional aerial and circus arts company while learning about the entertainment industry.
Over the course of the summer, I absorbed a great deal of knowledge about the entertainment industry, as I expected. What I had not expected, however, was enjoying my marketing work as much as I did. I wrote creative captions for posts promoting aerial arts classes, advertised free performances that made the performing arts more accessible to the Richmond community, and trained in the aerial arts myself to use that firsthand experience to better market class offerings. Through my internship experience, I realized that my passions for reading, writing, music, and movies shared one core commonality that my marketing work capitalized on directly: storytelling. By the end of August, I felt fulfilled by the value I had contributed and inspired to pursue a career in marketing as a means of keeping my love for storytelling alive through my professional work. Yet as excited as I was about taking more steps down this career path, I also felt very aware of my lack of business knowledge. Enter McIntire.
I first learned about the M.S. in Commerce program at UVA from another Leadership Studies professor in September of my senior year. When Dr. Kerstin Soderlund shared information about the program with my class, I was only half listening, solely because I presumed the program would require its applicants to have studied business as undergraduates. That presumption was wrong. As Dr. Soderlund spoke about the team-based, discussion-heavy, holistic business education that also allows students to dive deep into track-specific coursework (with Marketing and Management serving as a track option), I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the program is specifically geared toward non-business majors. The conversations I had with current M.S. in Commerce students, professors, and admissions counselors over the next few weeks showed me that McIntire truly values its collaborative, well-rounded academic programming just as much as it values cultivating a true community of individuals who prove devoted to living a life marked by integrity and creativity when it comes to problem-solving and decision-making. I became convinced that McIntire was a perfect fit for me academically, personally, and professionally, leading me to solely apply to UVA’s M.S. in Commerce program. I was thrilled to be accepted, and the program has only exceeded my expectations since beginning graduate studies on Grounds.
On Grounds
It’s been two months since beginning the M.S. in Commerce program, and I continue to be more and more impressed by my graduate studies. Three aspects of my educational experience thus far stand out in particular: the team-based approach to learning, our weekly speaker series sessions, and our discussions about artificial intelligence.
As a true 4+1 program, the M.S. in Commerce is really designed to build upon and leverage the unique undergraduate educations of its participants. This is very apparent in classroom discussion. Each of my classmates approaches course concepts with such unique perspectives, the frameworks of their thinking largely shaped by their undergraduate study, leading to well-rounded classroom conversation. This richness of collective contribution positively impacts the team-based approach to learning that serves as a hallmark of the program. Our professors and administrators worked hard prior to the start of the semester to group my classmates and me into teams made up of individuals with diverse skill sets, experiences, and undergraduate areas of study. Much of our coursework is group work that we complete in these teams, which works wonderfully in practice. Individually, my groupmates and I have very different strengths, interests, and expertise. Collectively, we are a powerhouse capable of producing well-rounded, high-quality work through intentionally utilizing each other’s unique strengths and perspectives. To complete our very first group assignment, we met up at one of my groupmate’s houses, where he grilled us fresh cheeseburgers served with a side salad. We indulged in his homemade dinner together while sitting outside on the patio before tackling our Strategic Cost Management case assignment together as a team. My groupmate’s dog, Moose, made great company while we worked. Our teams really do serve as invaluable built-in support systems. I feel very grateful for my groupmates, who are incredible thought partners and amazing friends.
Moreover, I am constantly impressed with our speaker series sessions that take place every Friday. Professor Ira Harris invites professionals to speak with us about their educational backgrounds, early professional experiences, career pathing, and current companies. Speakers range from young professionals, often McIntire alumni, to highly successful CEOs. Learning about the paths that led such accomplished individuals to where they are today and getting the opportunity to engage with them in Q&A fashion is motivating. They share countless leadership lessons that often show how the theories I learned about as a Leadership Studies major work in real-world, professional contexts. This is just one of many examples of how seamlessly the M.S. in Commerce program builds upon my undergraduate education.
In Global Strategy and Systems, Professor David Schuff facilitates lively discussions about how and when to use AI professionally in both small- and large-scale contexts. With relevant, reputable articles serving as the foundation for classroom discussion, we focus mainly on the importance of AI explainability, which entails understanding how AI reaches an output well enough to explain the process to another person in detail and feel comfortable taking accountability for that output. In the computer lab, we compare and contrast the process of cleaning and analyzing data with and without the help of AI. This firsthand experience working with AI to learn when and how it can add value, while always remembering the importance of pairing AI integration with human judgment, has proved beyond valuable. Global Strategy and Systems builds upon the coursework I completed during my last semester at UR while taking Leadership in the Digital Age: Social Media, AI, and Beyond, taught by Dr. Bo Yun Park. Global Strategy and Systems takes a much more technical, hands-on approach to learning about artificial intelligence, while my Leadership Studies course focused more broadly on AI governance and policy. Together, they have provided me with a solid framework for thinking about AI and technology in general that will serve me well both professionally and personally.
Charlottesville Beyond Grounds
Outside of the classroom, the greater Charlottesville community has proved rich with opportunities for fun and for growth. As an undergraduate, I loved seeing movies at the historic Byrd Theatre and visiting the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. While I miss those opportunities to embrace my passions for film and museums that Richmond provided, I have quickly learned that Charlottesville is home to a plethora of opportunities to experience the performing arts. Since beginning my graduate program in August, I have seen the legendary Willie Nelson perform at the Ting Pavilion and attended “An Intimate Evening with David Foster and Katharine McPhee” at the historic Paramount Theater (Foster has won 16 Grammy Awards and has worked with artists including Michael Bublé, Céline Dion, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, and Whitney Houston as a composer, producer, and musician). I treasure the opportunity to fuel my love for the arts and entertainment while getting an incredible education in commerce here in Charlottesville.
Between the countless resources available at McIntire and all Charlottesville has to offer, these last two months have marked the start of a season of true growth and inspiration that will only continue as I progress through the M.S. in Commerce program. I look forward to the rest of my graduate studies here at UVA, and could not be more grateful to be a SpiderHoo!
