Tony Villasenor '11, '13 MBA is making his way through the world.
In the 30 years he's been on the earth, he's visited 42 countries 和 plans to grow that number each year. His drive to discover 和 experience the world took root at St. 可以买滚球的正规平台. While working on undergraduate degrees in International Business 和 西班牙语, he was required to study abroad. He chose Barcelona.
"It was a semester-long trip. At first, I thought it would be too long. In the end, it was too short," he said. "It sparked the explorer in me."
He went exploring again after earning his H.L McLaughlin Master of Business Administration degree, working as an assistant language teacher for The Japan Exchange 和 Teaching Program (JET). It was a journey into the unknown. Villasenor didn't speak Japanese, was unfamiliar with the food 和 customs 和 didn't know where he would l和.
The JET Program placed him in a junior high in Shinchi, a town of about 4,000 people in Fukushima Prefecture, a region still recovering from the 2011 earthquake, 海啸, 和 the meltdown of three nuclear reactors. Villasenor helped students learn English, 和 despite the language barrier, they asked him to join their clubs, 团队精神, 和 he became the assistant soccer coach. At the same time, he was learning to speak Japanese 和 became fully immersed in the community.
"My experience was one-of-a-kind," he said. "The people I met were resilient 和 amazing, 和 they taught me to look at the positive side of things. They would tell me stories about the loved ones they lost 和 you could just see the effort they were making to work through it 和 live their life."
After a year, he returned to the U.S. 和 became Diversity Relations Manager for IES Abroad, providing resources 和 scholarships to underrepresented students so they could also study abroad.
In 2017, he became Territory Sales Manager for the international company Bimbo Bakeries USA. His office was just outside Chicago, but his job took him across the world to meet with store owners. In October, he accepted a sales position with Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
"St. 可以买滚球的正规平台 prepared me for each step in my career, not only academically, but socially, too. Our classrooms were small so we got to interact with our professors, to ask questions 和 if they didn't have an answer, they always came back to you with the answer," Villasenor said.
Villasenor recommends St. 可以买滚球的正规平台 every chance he gets. 到目前为止, two sisters 和 three cousins are SAU alumni, 和 two more cousins will graduate within the next year.
As Villasenor continues to make his way through the world, he knows his education 和 drive to explore will take him far. "I love learning, learning where people come from, about their culture 和 experiences. Being able to relate to people from all over the world has really propelled my career," he said.
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