Be A Maverick. The University of Texas at Arlington
Business model
A few weeks ago, Jorge Callado headed to Seattle to become the newest member of Microsoft’s corporate finance team.
Callado recently earned his honors B.B.A. in finance from UT Arlington, making him the first member of his family to graduate from college. He did so as a member of both the Honors College and the Goolsby Leadership Academy in the College of Business, all the while maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA.
In landing his job at Microsoft, he survived a highly competitive hiring process for which, he says, UT Arlington gave him an edge.
“Most of my counterparts are coming from some rather pricey and well-recognized institutions,” he says. “But I now know that my UT Arlington education prepared me well, as I was able to confidently answer all the technical questions that I was asked during my final interview with Microsoft.”
Callado came to UT Arlington mostly because it was near his hometown of Cleburne. But once on campus, he found much more than he expected, thanks in part to Janis Dukes, an undergraduate adviser in the College of Business. It was Dukes who told him about UT Arlington’s accreditation by the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and the one-of-a-kind Goolsby Leadership Academy.
“And later,” Callado says, “when I found out that UT Arlington had both an Honors College and a vast amount of student organizations in which I could be involved, I had no doubt that UT Arlington was going to give me the greatest bang for my buck.”
And he cashed in, both in and out of the classroom. In John Dowdy’s business law class, he began to think seriously about attending law school (an option he plans to pursue in Seattle). As a Goolsby scholar, he found a “unique team-based curriculum [that] has helped me greatly develop both my interpersonal and leadership skills.” He put those skills to use as the chief recruiter for the University’s chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting and as an officer in Sigma Chi fraternity.
Goolsby Director David A. Mack expects great things from Callado.
“Jorge is one of the most focused students I have ever had,” Mack says. “He sets challenging goals for himself and then concentrates every facet of his being on accomplishing those goals. … I have no doubt that he will accomplish great things in his life. The Goolsby Leadership Academy is very proud to have him as one of our alums.”
In other words, Callado is going a long way.