Outstanding business students overcome challenges and succeed
Nicolette Do’s focus on efficiency tied right into why she chose to pursue her Master of Business Administration at the University of Houston-Victoria.
A resident of Richmond, Texas, she liked that she could do most of her graduate coursework online, saving hours in commuting, personal time and productivity every week.
“I’m a very results-oriented person, so for me, getting work done in a better way is always my goal,” said Do, who has worked full time as a senior accountant at an oil and gas company while attending UHV and hopes to rise into a corporate management position someday. “My ultimate goal is to make everything more efficient so that people spend less time on nonvalue-added things and more time analyzing the business and bringing it to a better position.”
Do recently was named the outstanding graduate student for the fall in the UHV School of Business Administration. Ganado resident Regina Chovanec is the school’s outstanding undergraduate student.
Each semester, professors from UHV’s three schools select outstanding graduates to be honored during commencement. UHV will hold two fall graduation ceremonies on Friday at Faith Family Church, 2002 E. Mockingbird Lane. The 5 p.m. ceremony will be for graduates of the School of Business Administration. The 7:30 p.m. ceremony will be for graduates of the schools of Arts & Sciences, and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. A live-streaming broadcast of the ceremonies will be available at www.uhv.edu/graduation.
“Nicolette and Regina share a love of learning and a commitment to excellence,” said James Jordan-Wagner, interim dean of the UHV School of Business Administration. “These graduates have demonstrated that they have what it takes to succeed, and they undoubtedly will continue on their paths of achievement long after their coursework at UHV concludes.”
Chovanec will receive a Bachelor of Business Administration on Friday. Her team won honorable mention at UHV’s BBA Case Conference, and she was inducted this semester into the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society, of which Do also is a member.
Like Do, Chovanec worked while going to school and tries to be organized and efficient.
“I like to do my schoolwork ahead of time so that I’m never behind. By working ahead, I was able to manage my time in a way that allowed me to work as both a full-time student and a part-time cook and waitress. It wasn’t easy, but it was rewarding,” she said.
Do, who worked full time while earning her MBA, concurred that working while going to school takes commitment: “Of course, you have to make a lot of sacrifices, like no more time to go out. For the last three years, I have spent all my weekends studying.”
Both women said that taking most of their courses online made their degree programs more manageable. Chovanec added that taking courses online also helps students adapt to changing trends in the workforce that have resulted in more online communication and fewer face-to-face interactions.
However, not all of their courses were taken online. One highlight of Do’s graduate school journey was her participation in a two-week UHV summer study program in China.
“It was awesome. It was good exposure to the way they do business in China and Asia in general,” said Do, a native of Vietnam.
After graduation, Do plans to work as a senior accountant for a midstream oil and gas company in the Houston area, and Chovanec plans to find a job in the Victoria area.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
