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Combining Business & Service

Anna Mahalak spent the summer in Bosnia teaching children English. How does she combine her love of service with her IPS?

Anna Mahalak with children she worked with while on an international service trip in Bosnia.
About Me

I believe that public service in its best form means to serve with, not for. I spent this past summer living and learning in Bosnia and Herzegovina through a student-run international service trip called the Bosnia Project (BP). Our team taught English in a fun, no-cost setting to 250 Bosnian students. The development of students' confidence in their communication skills was a challenging, yet dynamic process to facilitate.

This summer marked the beginning of a new direction; we began a new partnership with the NGO Creativus, and we also incorporated a new creative media component into the curriculum.

While receiving my BA degree in Government, I wanted a way to supplement my liberal arts education with a more practical, skills based curriculum that was flexible to my particular interests and needs. I found that flexibility in the Mason School of Business Minors program, especially in the Management & Organizational Leadership courses. I have been able to take classes on sustainability, change management, and organizational behavior. These courses have all supplemented my Government major nicely, by tackling some of the key issues the government, NGOs, and businesses all have in common.

Anna Mahalak with new W&M students, who she helped welcome to campus as an Orientation Aid.Impact & Engagement

I started off in the Sharpe Community Scholars Program as a freshman, which provides service-learning opportunities and promotes community and campus engagement. I love connecting across different organizations at William & Mary in order to get the full experience of what the College offers. One way I get to work with various campus organizations is as the Undersecretary for Organizational Outreach for the Student Assembly.

Greek life has also been a way for me to represent the largest women's interest group on campus, the Inter-Sorority Council,  comprised of all the sororities at W&M. This upcoming year, I will serve as the chapter President of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority, which has fostered leadership, development and service opportunities, and connected me to an amazing group of women in the Greek community. These opportunities and many others have been rewarding outlets for me to meet amazing students and faculty at this school.

Anna Mahalak has been very involved in Greek life and will serve as President of her sorority.Highlights

One of the highlights from my business courses was getting to work with a real business for my Environmental Consulting course with Prof. Tanya Boone. I chose to work with the William & Mary Development Office, where I interned. Getting to connect with people in my office was a true learning experience for me as I got to expand my social network to this unique group of people who do so much work behind the scenes for the College.

After analyzing the production systems at the office and the amount of paper used, my group encouraged recycling and established an office-wide recycling program that was more compatible with the campus efforts of the "Do One Thing" campaign. It was really empowering as a first semester business student to get to work with an actual business in the field of consulting and provide recommendations for sustainable practices that made a real impact.

Next Steps

I plan to use my Government major and Management minor as I go into the field of Education policy and leadership. Through the skills I've learned through my Individual Program of Study (IPS), I will be well prepared to work with schools and school systems in our country in combating educational inequalities. In the more immediate future, I hope to design an independent study that combines entrepreneurship principles with studying the management practices of NGOs in comparison to businesses.