亚历克西斯Havlicsek, 项目与供应链管理专业, will serve as student marshal at 实博体育投注's spring 2024 student commencement in May.
宾州中央谷. — From the moment she took her first supply chain management class at 实博体育投注 (PSU-LV), 亚历克西斯Havlicsek, 艾伦镇的, 知道她找到了自己的位置.
“我非常喜欢，”她说. “我知道这是给我的. I really looked forward to going to my classes and learning about the various topics they cover.”
哈夫利塞克的辛勤工作和对这个主题的热情得到了回报. 5月, the project and supply chain management major will lead the graduate procession as student marshal at the campus’ spring commencement.
As part of this distinction, she was asked to choose the campus’ faculty marshal. 哈夫利塞克选择了貌敏, associate teaching professor and director of business programs, 作为教务长.
“[Dr. Min] was the first person I came in contact with when I started my journey at 实博体育投注,哈夫利塞克说, 从第一天起, 他坚定不移地支持我的希望和抱负. He was someone I could always rely on during my four years and he was quick to help me whenever I needed it.”
Min commended Havlicsek for her eagerness to learn and expand her academic portfolio throughout her journey at Penn State.
“Alexis has taken advantage of the opportunities provided for our students at PSU-LV to the fullest,闵说. “She will graduate with dual bachelor of science in business (management/marketing) and bachelor of science in project and supply chain management majors with a remarkably high GPA. 作为同侪导师, she selflessly supports her fellow students with course content, 项目和演示.”
哈弗利塞克一开始在PSU-LV主修金融, 但只上了几节课, 她改变了航向, realizing she wanted to learn more about the various aspects of the supply chain industry — the movement of goods from one place to another. She was especially interested in the purchasing side and plans to make it her career.
Thanks to the hands-on learning opportunities Havlicsek received at PSU-LV, 她已准备好在赛场上留下自己的印记.
“The project and supply chain management major is unique to PSU-LV. I remember one of my professors saying no other school combines these two programs into one major,”她说。, 注意到PSU-LV的小尺寸, 靠近利哈伊谷的主要雇主, and strong industry partnerships that give its students a competitive advantage. “I truly appreciated how the professors are not just reading from a Power Point. They legitimately care about the classes and the students and provide their own firsthand experience from working in industry.”
哈夫利塞克还提名了马克·卡法里, 项目和供应链管理讲师, as another of her instructors who regularly applied his own professional experience to the classroom. 结果是, Havlicsek说, she and her classmates were able to collaborate with industry professionals — another advantage of attending a smaller school.
“在我的一门供应链课上, we were able to do a company project — we got to work directly with the company on a real project happening within their organization,”她说。. “每个学生被分配到不同的公司. If we were at a bigger school this would not be able to happen.”
她在麦克防务公司采购部实习, 是麦克卡车公司在艾伦敦的子公司, 给了她更多的专业经验.
“They were in the production of three military vehicle prototypes, 我直接参与了那个项目,哈夫利塞克说. “It was also different working with everyone in the department — most were 50 or 60 years old. 了解他们不同的经历真是太棒了.”
Besides her classwork and working full-time at Back 首页 Bagels in Schnecksville, 哈夫利塞克参与了校园活动, serving as the secretary and treasurer of the Project and Supply Chain Committee for the 14 Penn State Commonwealth Campuses, 作为项目和供应链项目的同伴导师. She wants to do her part to make more students — especially females — aware of the many career options within the industry.
“我觉得它还在继续发展，”她说. “It wasn’t talked about much prior to COVID, but then during the pandemic, it blew up. I also wanted to go into a male-dominated field to show even though I’m a woman, 我能做到，而且很自信. 这对我来说是一个很大的动力.”
Havlicsek views her role as student marshal as the culmination of four years of hard work.
“When I was notified I’d been chosen, I was happy — really excited,”她说。. “感觉我所有的努力都得到了回报. 有些夜晚，我感到很累, but I stayed up to finish homework even though I had to get up early the next day for work. 我也有点紧张!”
Havlicsek has started her job search and is keeping her options open.
在PSU-LV的早期, Havlicsek made a promise to herself to take advantage of every opportunity. She feels she’s done that and would advise other students to do the same.
“我走出了自己的舒适区，”她说. “You always learn from an experience, even if you didn’t like it. 作为大一新生, I was so nervous to speak in front of a group during my speech class, 我就在这里, 准备在毕业典礼上发言. 这表明我已经走了多远.”
