A Future CEO Who Likes to Travel

Name: Jacqueline (Jackie) Whittaker

Age: 21

Hometown: Easton, CT

Major: Business Administration Major/Communications Minor

Current Occupation: Intern at a Wealth Management Firm in Westport

"Why did you pick UConn Stamford?"

"At the time, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I didn’t even know if I wanted to go to college. So I just thought if I didn’t have any goals at all, I might as well save money and go somewhere local and go somewhere cheap. And I was actually between Southern and UConn. And I don’t know why, I just thought if I was going to be making the commute and go through all that, I would just rather come out of it with a UConn Degree. And now I’m here and eventually decided to do business. I’m really happy that I’m here because this is obviously one of the best business programs around. So I think this really worked out."

"Why did you pick Business Administration as a Major?"

"I liked that you get to do a little bit of everything because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. And when I was deciding, I didn’t want to limit myself to one area incase it turned out to be something I didn’t love. So I wanted the versatility."

"But you knew you at least wanted to Major in Business?"

"Yeah, I knew I wanted to do business, I just, kind of the same thing, I wanted to do business because it’s so versatile and so broad so I guess I picked the most broad Business Major you can do. And I really like it."

"Do you still help your parents with their company?"

"No, I stopped doing that over the summer because I was interning at Yale New Haven Health. So I stopped working there and then I started to work at the Wealth Management Firm in October."

"What’s your dream job?"

"I don’t really know exactly what. I know I want to work for a company that makes a positive difference in people’s lives. I think I figured that out when I started to work at Yale and that it was just a good feeling going there everyday, knowing that you were helping people and that everybody’s job there matters and they all work towards the same goal. So I want to work in a company like that; I think healthcare is a great industry, but I think there is a lot of industries in business that can do that. And I would love to work in upper-level management. I like to be in charge."

"CEO Level or is that too much?"

"Yeah, yeah, I almost want to get to a position where I can’t get any higher than that. I want to work up as high as I can, and part of me feels like I won’t be satisfied until I get to the top. That’s as far as I know I want in terms of a dream job."

"I know you like to travel, where is your favorite place you’ve gone to so far?"

"I would say I have two. I really liked Australia. It was the first place I ever went out of the country to, so it was just kind of mind-blowing to go there in itself. And secondly, I went to British Columbia, which was just so cool. I never would have thought it’s as beautiful as it is. I got to go to Vancouver and I got to go to Whistler, which are both in B.C. It was just the greatest experience. The only thing about Canada is that I think I would only enjoy it in the summer, which is when I went. I don’t know if I would want to be there in the winter. But as a place, it was just awesome, I loved it."

"Would you live in those places if you could?"

"I would, yeah. Being there, I loved the people and the culture. Everybody is just really laid back and it was just a nice place to be. And they both were places that I think are popular tourist destinations but they somehow manage to not be, like, touristy. Like the people there weren’t taking pictures of everything and it just wasn’t filed with tourists and families on vacation. It was just a nice place to be and to relax. And I particularly liked Vancouver because it’s a city, but it was really clean, people are friendly, it’s on the water so you can go literally from the city to the beach in five minutes. It’s also not far from the forest and hiking and other outdoor activities, which I really like to do. So it was the perfect little place for me, in my opinion."

"Last thing, this is kind of a free question. Do you have any advice or anything you want to say or want people to know about you?"

"I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned just from my experience is that it’s OK to go into college not knowing what you want and not knowing what you want to do. That’s how I was for like, two and a half years, and now I’m here, and I’m doing business and I’m really happy with it and I’m graduating on time. And I feel a lot of people are put under pressure to go to college and have a major right away and know what you want to do when you’re 18 years old. I just think that’s completely unrealistic and you don’t have to have everything figured out every step of the way.

You can take two and a half years if you want and be fine. I know when I was a Freshman, I was so scared that I was going to mess up and be behind the game and thought that everybody was ahead of me. It wasn’t that way at all because most of the people I know changed their majors or transferred schools and went in a completely different direction than they were when they were 18. I just think it’s important for people to know that. I think people keep on telling High School Seniors the wrong thing about college and it’s good to do your own thing and have your own opinion about it."