From time to time on this blog, we’ll be featuring brief conversations with recent COBA alum, asking them to share how ACU has prepared them for where they are now.
Jody Walker graduated from ACU with degrees in Accounting and Finance in 2009. While at ACU, Jody played on the Wildcat football team, was a member of STAR, and was a winner in the student category in our 2009 Springboard Ideas Challenge. He’s currently studying at SMU’s Dedman School of Law and is candidate for his Juris Doctrate in 2012. We’ve asked Jody to share with us how ACU prepared him for his next steps, specifically law school.
Alum Jody Walker (pictured on the left) is now a student at SMU's Dedman School of Law
One of the biggest differences was the technological innovation used throughout the university. Professors would take surveys on iPhones, Q & A’s would be done through text messaging in chapel and even some of my tests were taken with a remote control. None of my other classmates in graduate school had experienced a university that incorporates technology so seamlessly into thestudent bodies’ daily activities. With this exposure to a cutting-edge learning environment, ACU (and COBA) gave me more than just a “textbook” education.
ACU (and COBA) definitely excelled at preparing me academically for graduate school, as well as for my future in the workplace. ACU is able to distinguish itself on many different levels from the typical public university, and I believe that one of the most beneficial aspects of ACU was the opportunity to improve my social skills. Sounds strange, but the constant communication with my professors and other students, daily interactions with classmates at chapel (not during chapel of course), and socializing at the numerous school activities all helped me develop the skills and attributes necessary to effectively communicate with the people around me. I feel like this intangible characteristic is often neglected at bigger universities, but with the personal environment ACU creates, it gave me the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with the people I encountered in addition to learning invaluable interpersonal skills.
STAR (Student Training and Research) was probably the most useful program in COBA. It was a real world application of the material I learned in class. At times it’s hard to comprehend equations and theories past the pages of your textbook, but STAR gave me the unparalleled experience I needed to succeed in graduate school.