We checked in with Renee Spillane, who’s safely at home in Virginia Beach, VA. But she won’t be there for very long.
She’ll be putting her McIntire education to good use when she begins working in private equity for Vista Equity Partners; the position will take the Marketing and Accounting concentrator to Austin, TX, after graduation. She sent along the above photo from some leisure time when she visited the Lone Star State’s capital city.
Spillane says that she always knew that she wanted to study business, and as such, planned to apply to McIntire. What she says “really hammered it home” for her was taking a Global Commerce Immersion (GCI) course in London and Dublin during the spring break of her first year at the University.
Having stayed focused on her coursework, she’s taken her McIntire lessons to heart to help deal with the change in the learning environment and prepare for the future.
What have you learned at the Comm School that’s helping you to navigate your learning during the current situation?
I know this is a huge cliché, but learning how to effectively and efficiently work in groups has been a huge deal for me throughout the rest of my academic career since ICE [the Integrated Core Experience, McIntire’s third-year curriculum]. Especially now when I have to do it from home, I’m so glad I had that experience.
Since your courses moved online, what’s been the most memorable moment that you’ve witnessed?
Recently, a bunch of people came into one of my classes on the pretense of observing my professor [Carrie Heilman] teach. All of a sudden, they asked for a few minutes to speak and ended up giving my professor one of the most prestigious teaching awards at the University [UVA’s All-University Teaching Award]. She was so surprised. I’m very grateful that I got to experience that.
Besides your McIntire coursework, how are you passing the time at home?
I’m doing a lot of reading and trying to get outside as much as possible. I’m so grateful that I live somewhere where it’s still okay to go outside. I can ride my bike to the beach and walk or run, and that’s really making me appreciate my time at home instead of getting frustrated because I’m missing my last semester at school.