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Start Your Story: Chris Ames

Chris Ames
Omaha native Chris Ames enrolled in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Business Administration because of the people he met during his campus visit. His CBA experience prepared him to sit alongside some of the best students in the world at the Chicago Booth Summer Business Scholars Program, a three-week intensive MBA preview program. The economics major minoring in management and marketing couldn’t have asked for a better way to start his senior year.

“I was part of a cohort of 65 students from 15 states and 21 countries,” Ames said. “We took week-long classes in accounting, finance and marketing from the top University of Chicago Booth School of Business professors, working in teams on case studies and discussing how the topics in our textbooks relate to the real business world.”
 
Chris Ames with Dean Donde Plowman during his freshman year
Ames with Dean Donde Plowman
The accelerated program crams classes normally taught in six weeks into four full days of classwork and homework. This set up allowed Ames to experience the dynamic of being able to accomplish more in a team than he could have done individually.

“We pushed each other and never forgot that together, we can do so much more. Beyond the three core classes, we studied negotiation, leadership, innovation and the art of business lunch etiquette,” he said.

Although he also spent time taking in the sights and experiences of Chicago, it is the relationships with his classmates that Ames will carry with him.

“The friendships are what I’ll remember most. I made lifelong friends from Brooklyn to Los Angeles to Singapore to Spain,” he explained. “The people in the program taught me about getting out of my comfort zone and getting to know people with more in common than our very different hometowns would indicate.”

Ames also knows this experience may never have happened without support from people in Nebraska. He attributed his acceptance to the program to recommendations from Dr. Donde Plowman, James Jr. and Susan Stuart Dean of the College of Business Administration, Dr. Laurie Miller, assistant professor of practice in economics, and Erin Burnette, associate director of the CBA Honors Academy.

“I couldn’t have done it without their help. What brought me to CBA was the people and Dean Plowman was a big influence on my decision,” he said. “My family and I were extremely impressed with what she wanted to do with CBA, how she wanted to help students and mostly her love of what she does. The faculty, staff and students were working together towards becoming a better organization. My conversations with them made me realize what an opportunistic place I was joining. Many people are willing to help you accomplish your goals at CBA.”

In addition to the Chicago Booth Summer Business Scholars Program, Ames has also enjoyed internships at Jelecos and Verizon, participated in student government, the UCARE undergraduate research program and worked on a sports radio show.

“I’ve tried to become as well-rounded as possible, using my interest in a variety of fields to experience as much as possible to help me standout in a very competitive job market.”
Published: August 12, 2015