By Emily Wu, Supply Chain Management Student
Although I was not an international student, I had grown up in international schools all my life. Being at UTD gave me a sense of belonging.Not only is supply chain management a STEM major, it also is a rapidly growing field that supports many industries. My interest grew as I was blessed to have very passionate teachers who would bring guest speakers and valuable industry knowledge to class.
The largest international student population in Texas
There are many reasons why I chose to attend UT Dallas. As an Asian-American who has lived in Taiwan and China for most of my life, I felt comfortable coming to the university with the largest international student population in Texas. Being on campus and meeting so many people from vastly different backgrounds made me feel that UTD was a melting pot of all kinds of students. Although I was not an international student, I had grown up in international schools all my life. Being at UTD gave me a sense of belonging.
During my first two years of college, I joined the Filippino Student Association and the Vietnamese Student Association. Both of these organizations promoted unity by assigning their members into “families.” Throughout those years, I helped raise money for charity, competed in family challenges and built friendships I would keep for life.
Supply chain management is a STEM major
With the help of my professors and counselors, I chose to major in supply chain management. Not only is supply chain management a STEM major, it also is a rapidly growing field that supports many industries. My interest grew as I was blessed to have very passionate teachers who would bring guest speakers and valuable industry knowledge to class.
The most eye-opening experience during my college career was my first internship. The SCM academic support coordinator helped tremendously by answering all my questions and giving me advice on my résumé. After weeks of searching through Handshake, the job app for college students, I landed an interview and promptly started my summer position as a logistics analyst intern at Qorvo.
My summer position as a logistics analyst intern at Qorvo
During my three months at Qorvo, I learned the ins and outs of the company. Qorvo took its internship program very seriously, so I had to quickly adapt to the many company acronyms and traditions. My main project was to track company metrics through PowerBI. To do this, I had to find tables in SAP and Spotfire, merge them and trim them down to the fiscal week and month.
At the end of my internship, I presented my PowerBI project, displaying the 26 dashboards I had created that tracked specific company metrics. Within PowerBI, I had added dynamic charts and slicers that allowed anyone to access a specific expired part number with one click. The next day, Qorvo gave me an offer letter for a full-time position upon graduation.
Thanks to the knowledge and tools I received from my time at UTD, I will be returning to Qorvo this summer for my second internship. Next summer, when I graduate, I will be working at Qorvo full-time as a planning analyst.
