Student Spotlight: Billy Burke ('18) | Honors in Business Association

Why did you join an Honors organization?
	Coming from a very small school that I was actively involved in I wanted to make sure that I could find my niche to get involved with as well. I quickly realized that the Honors community was like none other and I jumped into all the different student groups like Peer Allies Through Honors, Honors Council and Honors in Business Association!
What else are you involved in on campus?
	I am a Peer Advisor for the School of Business Office of Undergraduate Advising. In this role I help answer any questions that might arise during a student’s academic planning. We help to ensure people achieve minors, graduate on time, get involved on campus, and are able to go abroad if they wish. It is a very rewarding role and one that I have had since sophomore year. I also was a coordinator for Peer Allies Through Honors since my second semester freshman year. In this role I helped to run the organization’s pairing program that welcomes freshmen to the University as well as host events to encourage the relationship.
What do you enjoy most about UConn?
	My favorite part about UConn is the chocolate lover’s ice cream in the dining halls. But if I had to pick a second favorite part it is the people I have gotten to meet. Throughout these past four years I have had the opportunity to meet people from all over the United States and even internationally. I have learned so much through everyone else’s experiences and points of view. I have definitely learned just as much in the classroom as I have from the people around campus and I am extremely grateful for them all!
What are your career aspirations?
	Right now I would say my career aspirations are just to work with people and help them grow and develop. I thoroughly enjoy seeing people succeed and any type of role I wind up in will revolve around that. After I graduate in May, I will be beginning a new role as District Manager Trainee for Aldi. I am super excited to learn the in’s and out’s of the operation and then after one year of training I will lead three to five stores in the New England region. Hopefully I will be able to see my stores succeed and develop the employees as we work as a team to help Aldi thrive. Potentially after five years in this role I would be able to take this position to another country and lead stores there.
Previous internship(s) and brief summary
	Freshmen and sophomore year I worked as a camp counselor and ice cream scooper so don’t stress if you don’t have a formal internship everyone! You will still learn valuable skills that you can bring with you in life. Junior year I interned for Abbott Nutrition in Columbus, Ohio as an internal sales intern. I worked on the sales operation team helping improve the efficiency of their field sales force. It was an amazing experience and was recently ranked the #1 Healthcare Internship Program by Vault.com for all the value that it provides to its interns.
Fun Fact About Yourself
	I can name all 197 countries! (But give me like 5 minutes to refresh beforehand)