John Bellaire

Class of 2012, EY, Audit Senior

I helped to coordinate the 2012 “Global Business Forum”, in which the SIBC hosted students from the Global View Initiative at Peking University in China.  Over the course of the forum, participants worked in teams consisting of both ND and Peking students to prepare and present a case study for Dow Chemical, as well as attended classes and networked with ND administrators and professors.  The following fall, a group of ND students travelled to Peking University in Beijing for a similar event.

SIBC gave me the opportunity to explore many different career paths, while building skills that would be applicable in any of them.  I had many different interests and wanted to find a way to sort them all out, which SIBC allowed me to do with hands-on experience.  The networking opportunities that SIBC brought also helped me to build strong relationships that opened career doors.Through coordinating these activities, I learned how to collaborate with colleagues across the globe, manage projects with many moving parts, and creatively problem solve.  Critical thinking and attention to detail were essential to ensuring that over a dozen students made it across the world to campus, had a challenging, engaging program of activities, and were able to develop lasting relationships.

Working as part of international teams, I regularly call upon the skills I learned as part of SIBC. Whether it be working across diverse cultures, prioritizing competing tasks, or speaking in front of an audience, I have found that while others may struggle to gain comfort over these competencies at the start their careers, these skills are already second nature to me because of my time in SIBC.

If I had to describe SIBC in two words, they would be Immersive and Broadening.