What’s tall, trendy, and ridden with coffee cups all over? You guessed it: BU’s own Questrom School of Business (formerly known as SMG but don’t make that mistake!)
Questrom has recently become another home of mine. Before you gasp at my betrayal of sweet sweet COM, know that ole’ 640 Comm Ave is still the green apple with peanut butter of my eye. I’m an advertising kid at my core, but as of this school year, I’m also…a business minor.
Yep. I’m truly, willfully taking courses involving *gulp* mathematics. How did I get here? Who have I become? What’s for dinner at Bay State tonight? I wish I had the answer to any and all of those questions, friends. If you read my blog posts back when I was a wee freshman (err last year), you know I’ve dealt with some identity crises in the past regarding my academic pursuits. While my long journey towards declaring a major came to end a few weeks ago–which, by the way, involved very anti-climatically turning in a piece of paper–I had both the curiosity and spare credits to go after another degree. It’s been some time since numbers and I were pals, but I figured what the hay? In all honesty, it has not been torturous! Business is actually muy interesante, and I now feel obliged to dispel some rumors and quell some qualms, my fellow COMmunicators might have about it.
First, to lay some groundwork: Questrom only offers one minor degree in Business Administration, which is a nice culmination of the various departments the college has to offer. The program entails eight courses varying in topic from organizational behavior to accounting. One of the prime business concentrations not part of the minor, however, is marketing. This was a major (haha get it?) bummer for me at first because I was hoping for some marketing knowledge to compliment what I’m learning in ad. I’m glad I stuck with it, though, because I feel like I’m broadening my horizons in other advantageous subjects.
Last semester, I got to take microeconomics which made me realize that the economy works in not so mysterious but rather pretty clear-cut ways. Now, I’m taking Finance 101 and getting a pretty handy comprehension of ca$h flow$ (no seriously that’s a financial term!), but my current favorite course is Business, Society and Ethics, better known as SM 131. This class doesn’t have the greatest reputation on campus due to a five days-a-week schedule and hefty reading load, but it’s far from as bad as it sounds. I actually think a lot of my COMrades would really like it, since a good portion of the course involves, well, talking. We have discussion three of the five days about readings and assignments, which not only come from textbooks but also news publications and videos. A lot of current events are therefore woven into the course (shoutout to my journalism homies) and topics usually center around decisions made by companies (@PRmajors). A major portion of your grade is also public speaking due to two group presentations. Above all, developing your own understanding of ethical decision-making is valuable no matter what field you’re pursuing. At least, I think so!
I still have four more business courses to go that are much more math-based, so who knows how long this pro-biz attitude will last. For now, I get the guilty pleasure of walking into a beautiful institution each day that makes me feel a different level of special for some reason–possibly because there’s a Starbucks and BREAD WINNERS *see my last blog post* on the second floor. Or maybe I think I’m cool because I live a not-so secret double life. Judge me!
