Growing up, I have always loved my independence and freedom. While working a traditional 9 to 5 job provides great security and benefits, I have found that it offers little flexibility and personal control. I first experienced this as early as high school, where I had a job working in the kitchen of a senior living facility. Due to poor management and high employee turnover in the kitchen, I frequently became frustrated about how it felt as if my actions had no impact on my shifts. My work was routinely dictated by other people’s reliability instead of my own effort. In search of personal fulfilment and ownership for my own work, I decided to start a pressure washing business on the side. I invested in my own equipment and marketing materials, and as I acquired more and more jobs I felt more of a direct correlation between my effort and the fruits of my labor. From then on, I wanted to pursue a career where I could be more entrepreneurial and independent. As I started as a freshman at the University of Georgia, I initially majored solely in Finance. However upon taking an introductory real estate class for an elective, I discovered how entrepreneurial the real estate field could be. I still remember how captivated I was in one example where my professor explained the feasibility of an investment purchase in a bed and breakfast. He explained the fundamentals of an equity waterfall and how proceeds from investments are divided based on the total contributions made both financially and through sweat equity. After this class, I decided to acquire my real estate salesperson license and add a second major in real estate. The field of commercial real estate particularly attracted me because of the blend of creativity, entrepreneurialism, and relationship building. A career in this field promised creativity in selecting targets for acquisitions, collaboration in partnering with equity investors and most importantly, direct results from the work put in. I gained further exposure to sales when I interned as a credit analyst for an oil company between my sophomore and junior year of college. I had the opportunity to work closely with sales representatives to evaluate customer risk while also maximizing their potential sales. Through these interactions, I saw how dynamic their work was. They consistently had the opportunity to travel to meet with clients, build strong relationships, and find innovative ways to close deals. While these salespersons were primarily selling oil and gas products, this exposure also applied to real estate investments fundamentally. This experience solidified my passion for sales. Now more than ever, I am confident in this career path going forward.

Currently, I am pursuing both a degree in Finance and a degree in Real Estate from the Terry College of Business. After graduation, I plan to pursue a Master’s in Forest Resources from the Warnell School of Forestry. My long-long term professional goal is to pursue a career focused on real estate investment trusts for sustainable timberlands in the Southeast. I believe this specific study abroad in Vancouver is the perfect opportunity for me to gain exposure to sustainable land development and expand my knowledge of international business practices. I have always had a passion for sustainability for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I was deeply active in the Boy Scouts of America and had the chance to surround myself in nature through many backpacking trips in the Southern Appalachians and New Mexico. These experiences shaped my respect for natural beauty and inspired me to pursue a career where I can give back and preserve these lands. At the same time, studying finance and real estate practices has shown me the profound effects business decisions have on shaping the community around us. Being from just outside the metro-Atlanta area, I have seen firsthand the aggressive and often unsustainable urban sprawl. Many of these expansions clear natural lands and prioritize short term gains rather than long term sustainability, often resulting in poor infrastructure, traffic congestion, and a disconnect from the natural world. Seeing this, I want to be a part of a new generation of real estate professionals that encourage long-term growth and sustainable business practices, especially in the rapidly developing Southeastern United States. This is the primary reason I have chosen to study abroad in Vancouver. British Columbia is widely regarded as a global leader in sustainable urban development as many cities here incorporate green infrastructure and forward-thinking policies. By participating in this program, I hope to gain knowledge about how both the public and private sectors balance development with ecological preservation. I’m hopeful I can learn and take these experiences back to the United States and incorporate them in my professional career. As the Southeast United States continues to grow and expand, incorporating green policies in land use is essential to long-term sustainable growth. Since I was fortunate enough to be able to grow up and experience the natural beauty of the Southeast, I want to pursue a meaningful career where I can preserve this land for future generations, while also contributing to the economic growth in the South.

As an UGA business student studying economics that also has a passion for backpacking that developed as an Eagle Scout, I approach business from an environmentalist background. I believe that it's especially important for businesses to implement sustainable practices because of how much impact they have on the world. When compared to individuals, businesses have a much larger potential to influence the natural world through pollution, usage of natural resources, and encroaching on ecosystems. Business sustainability is crucial not only to protect our natural resources for future use, but also to preserve natural beauty for future generations to enjoy. One simple method that businesses can implement relatively easily is using energy saving measures. These can include energy efficient light bulbs, automatic timers on lights and air conditioning, improved insulation, and adding more windows. These relatively simple methods can decrease their energy consumption in the long run. As of currently most electricity produced in the United States is from fossil fuels this will help reduce their carbon footprint in a simple way. While this may have a big upfront cost for the business, it will also save them money in the long run by reducing their energy demands. Additionally, businesses can even take this a step further by replacing physical offices with virtual remote employment. While having manufacturing plants and warehouses are a necessity for businesses, the recent Covid-19 pandemic has proved that many office spaces are not necessary and virtual work can replace the office environment. Today many businesses have continued using remote work either completely or partially with a hybrid work environment. Businesses that become virtual not only remove the need to illuminate and air condition office spaces, but they also eliminate the need for employees to commute to work. This would indirectly decrease the carbon footprint through eliminating their employees daily commutes to work. Lastly, companies should prioritize waste management. Waste from companies often ends up in landfills which overtime decays and releases carbon dioxide. While backpacking, I practiced sustainability and care for the environment through the three R's: Reduce, reuse, and recycle. These three R's also apply over to sustainable business practices. Companies can reduce their waste at the start, by redesigning products to use fewer materials. Using digital documentation rather than paper documentation also reduces needless paper waste. Permanent packaging that can be reused can be implemented to eliminate the need for plastics. Many grocery stores already adopted this sustainable practice by selling reusable bags instead of plastic ones. They can also prioritize recycling by producing their finished product from already recycled materials or recyclable materials. This ensures that consumers can dispose of their used product sustainably. Because of my passion and experiences in backpacking, I plan to bring what I've learned about sustainability into the world of business. After my education, I plan to approach business responsibly and advocate for policies such as these to be implemented into the workplace in order to preserve natural resources and beauty for future generations.