By David R. Kazak

Three SIUC students, including SIU’s student trustee and homecoming queen, visited the nation’s capitol over the Fall Break to expand their view of what is available after graduation.

They met with health care professionals, a federal judge, and Sen. Paul Simon in an effort to open their eyes to the opportunities that await business students after they graduate, faculty adviser Michael Haywood said.

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The students represented not only their student organization, Blacks Interested in Business, they represented the University as well.

SIU Student Trustee Jason Ervin and Homecoming Queen Leslie Batson, both College of Business Administration students, went on the trip, as did one other COBA student, Davia Dunbar.

They met with SIU alumni in different fields:Julius Johnson, a federal administrative law judge; Hubert Avent, director of Urban Health at the Bureau of Public Health Care; and Margaret Hicks, a professor of accounting at Howard University.

In addition to the alumni, they got to meet with Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill, and talk about issues facing minorities in the business atmosphere.

Haywood said he was pleased with the trip because it opened the eyes of the students to possibilities beyond Fortune 500 companies.

It gave the students a different perspective, he said. It showed them the difference between the Midwest and the East Coast. It also gave them a chance to meet with people in a position to hire them.

Haywood said the students came away from the trip geared-up because they now have a vision for what they can do after graduation.

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Batson, a junior in marketing, said they spent the majority of their time at the Bureau of Public Health Care seeing the different business possibilities available in the health profession.

I’d never considered health care work before, Batson said. I’m a marketing major, and I’ve always wanted to find a job at a Fortune 500 company, then maybe start my own business.

Now I can see there are a lot of possibilities out there.

Dunbar, a junior in accounting, said he agreed.

It really opened my eyes to a new market I’d never really considered, she said. Now that I’ve seen what is out there, I am considering getting into health care, doing the accounting or the financing for a health care company.

Dunbar, a Quad Cities resident, said although the East Coast has a different feel to it, she would not rule it out as a place to go after graduation.

It is a faster pace out there, she said. It also has a higher cost of living and different lifestyle. But I would not rule it out.

The students are not the only ones who have benefited from this trip, Haywood said. The businesses they visited also benefited.

These health care markets really need the analytical and financial skills our business students have, he said.

Both Ervin and Haywood said this trip has helped the students get known. Ervin said the trip also expanded the name of SIU to places it might not get otherwise.

I believe this trip has not only helped out our group, but the College of Business and the University too, he said. We made contacts for ourselves and for the college.