These seven Naveen Jindal School of Management new graduates and all former officers in the student organization, Ascend, had jobs in hand before their college degrees.
Shown in the photo are:
Top left: Huilin (Ben) Luo, past vice president of community service for Ascend, has accepted a position as an audit associate with Ernst & Young in Houston. He has interned for a CPA firm, has been a leader in the ALA and has been a student worker for the Jindal School graduate accounting program.
Top right: Yiru (Ruby) Ma, Ascend former vice president of membership who has also been active with the ALA and the Career Management Leadership Council, has accepted a position as a tax associate for Deloitte in Beijing. She enjoyed many volunteer experiences during Alternative Spring Break, such as building an oyster reef off the shore of Galveston Bay Foundation’s Sweetwater Nature Preserve with other volunteers from UT Dallas and the University of North Texas.
Center row (from left): Bingyu (Jack) Chen, past vice president of IT for Ascend, has accepted a full-time job as an HCM consultant for ReachNett Consulting in Dallas.
Bowen Li, the most recent Ascend president who won the “President of the Year” award this year from the University’s Student Organization Center, will start his career upon graduation as a staff accountant for Trinity Industries, where he also held an internship. He was also assistant vice president of Community Service and served on the Dean’s Council and as a leader of the school’s VITA program.
Xueyan (Sharon) Sun, former vice president of professional development for Ascend, will be starting her career as a tax accountant for Alcatel-Lucent, where she also held an internship position.
Bottom row (from left): Haiyan (Abby) Yu, Ascend former vice president of community affairs is currently working. She also helped lead the school’s VITA program and had several internships during her time at UT Dallas.
Xiaoyun (Linda) Su, who served in many roles, including vice president of membership for Ascend, will be starting her position as a tax associate with Deloitte in Shanghai.
Before They Turned Their Tassels
The Ascend former leaders accepted their new job offers before they turned their tassels during this spring’s commencement ceremony.
“One of the recipes for success after graduation isn’t just what you did in the classroom, but it’s what you have done on campus and in the community. These students made the most of all their opportunities at UTD — working hard in classes, professional development, leadership and work, and it paid off; all have secured positions before they graduated,” said Mary Beth Goodrich, senior accounting lecturer and Ascend’s faculty adviser.
“They poured their time into making Ascend a better organization, which in turn makes the university and community a better place.”
The students have also participated in activities and organizations such as the Jindal School’s Dean’s Council, the Accounting Leadership Association (ALA), CEO Global, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, Alternative Spring Break, International Student Services Office orientation mentoring, internships and on-campus jobs.
One of the largest student organizations on campus, Ascend helps prepare future Pan-Asian finance, accounting and business leaders and offers mentorship programs, leadership training, résumé and interview critique, company visits, networking events, professional development courses and volunteer opportunities.
The award-winning organization’s motto is Connect. Inspire. Ascend. — which is exactly what these seven students were able to do.
