Anushka Gupta

Independent Study and Mentorship

Business Symposium

2 October 2019

Business Symposium is an event for Independent Study and Mentorship students that is

essentially an entire day dedicated to professional development. Students are given the

opportunity to network with other ISM students from different schools, network with

professionals, receive feedback on interviewing skills, receive feedback on their essays, and

attend a seminar led by a professional speaker. All in all, it is a great way to enrich students and

set them up well for the upcoming year and impart valuable “adult” skills.

This year I had the unique perspective of attending as an ISM II student. As an ISM I

student, this experience was very new to me and I did not know what to expect in terms of what

knowledge I would leave with that day. As an ISM II student, I had the opportunity to act as a

teacher and a role model for ISM I students. I had the chance to act as an interviewer and resume

reviewer for a few rounds of the sessions and give advice. I had a mild, almost metaphysical

moment while I was sitting there as the interviewer rather than the interviewee. Only a year ago,

I was in the seat across from where I sat this time, eager to hear feedback and advice. Now, I

could pass on that same feedback and advice. Though I had many teaching moments throughout

the day, it did not discount the fact that I had an equal amount of learning moments. There were

some things that I picked up on from ISM I students, which I thought were good ideas such as

resume formatting and certain answers to interview questions.

 In addition to the interview and resume feedback sessions, I really enjoyed listening to

the guest speaker. Last year, the speaker was the founder of Tumbleweed TexStyles. He placed a

strong emphasis on entrepreneurship and the fact that it is never too late to take charge of your

future and take ownership of your intellectual property. His story was very inspiring and I still

have a lot of notes written from his session almost a year ago. This year, the guest speaker

brought up some similar, but also some new viewpoints. She was the founder of her own

company as well, but her consulting firm’s goal was to guide people to a career they would be

happy with at any stage of their life. One thing that she emphasized a lot was marketing and

communicating oneself in a competitive job market. For me, and for a lot of ISM II students, I

would say that this aspect of professionalism is very important. We spent our first year building a

solid foundation of basic professional skills, but this nuanced aspect is essentially the icing on

top. Now that I know what I want to do and sort of what I want for the future, I need to know

how to make it happen. I have moved past the investigative phase, and now I am at the “let’s

make it happen” phase.

As an ISM I student, I did not really feel like any of the events at the end of the year were

a conclusion to my journey in this program because I knew that I would be trying it again for a

second time. However, as this year progresses I feel a sense of finality. This was my last time

attending a Business Symposium . Though I will definitely have more professional development

as I progress through my college career, my professional career, and life in general, Business

Symposium was a place where I knew I was surrounded by like-minded individuals with the

same goal in mind: to make the most out of this experience. There was a lot of emphasis on

individual development, but this event allowed the students to come together as a community
and go through with it. It is nowhere near the end of the year, but I know that I will keep the

lessons that I have learned over these past two years with me for the years to come ahead.