CALUMS
WINTER 2018 | VOLUME 8, ISSUE 1
INSIDE THIS ISSUE A Spooktacular Extravaganza
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Thanksgiving Concert on Campus
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In Honour of Patriotic Service
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Humanity and Service
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CALUMS
pipeline A California University of Management and Sciences quarterly publication. Fall 2017 - Vol. 7 Issue 4 EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alena Martynenko EDITOR Andrew Press Sasha Safarzadeh CONTRIBUTORS Thilini Chethana Samarasinghe Simba Gote Bere DESIGN Simba Gote Bere
CALUMS WELCOMES NEW STUDENTS CHINA LU, SONGWAN ZHOU, CHANGYI GHANA ARCHER, JONAS INDIA AKULA, YASHWANTH RAO JOSEPH, SAINI KOGANTI, VIJAYA SANTHI NUNE, MADAN SYED, MUBARAK HUSSAIN JORDAN ALFAOURI, LAITH ALHOURANI, ABEER HIHI, ISSAM ODAH, SAIF
MONGOLIA GANTUGS, SUGARMAA
SAUDI ARABIA AL NIMER , AHMAD
NIGERIA IKOGHODE, KASHETU LESINWA, NONYE MADUEKE, VICTOR OLUKOYA, SAMSON OMOLABI, RASHEED
SOUTH KOREA KIM, YEJIN LEE, SEUNG JUN
PHILLIPINES EUGENIO, MARY LOUISE TAN-YU, GRETCHEN
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TAIWAN WANG, YU-CHEN YANG, TSU-LIN TURKEY EMRE OZKAN
QUARTERLY AWARDS CEREMONY
ACADEMIC DEAN’S LIST RECIPIENTS The Award is given to students in recognition of outstanding academic achievements ADEBANJO, OLAYEMI ATES, MELTEM DAVID-BANJO, OLALEKAN DESAI, SHEETAL HA, SUNGJIN JUNG, YUSEOK KANJANAKUL, KATESIRIN KHATEM, AHMAD KIM, MIN JAE LE, PHUONG LEE, JI WON LIU, YANG MANNE, SHRUTHI REDDY MOUNKAM NDZOGOUE, AXEL
MANNE, SHRUTI REDDY DEAN’S LIST AWARDEE
N/A, GURJOT KAUR NARENDRA MEISHERI, YASHIKA OGUNSOLA, ABOLORE OH, SEOUNGJAE OH, YERIN PARK, JISEOK PUJARI VISWANATH, RAKESH RAJARAM, PRIYADHARSHINI RANA, MOSAM SENGEE, OTGON SUNG, KYOUNG A SWIDAN, ESLAM TAMER, MERVE VIBOTHI, SAI PRASAD
MOUNKAM NDZOGOUE, AXEL DEAN’S LIST AWARDEE
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GURJOT KAUR DEAN’S LIST AWARDEE
CALUMS SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS FOUNDER’S SCHOLARSHIP is given in recognition of students’ outstanding commentary on CALUMS Founding Philosophy QUOTE FROM THE WINNING COMMENTARY
CALUMS offers on campus jobs that help students to be versatile while learning. CALUMS has students and faculty from different countries of the world thereby providing opportunity to know about different international cultures and opportunities to exchange thoughts. As part of working on curriculum assignments, and on campus jobs, I found a few best friends who are from Korea, China, Turkey, Russia and Nigeria that have helped me explore and share new ideas. CALUMS not only provides the best affordable education but also involves students in events like Valentine's Day, Mother's DAMOJIVARAPU, PARIMALA Day, Halloween, Christmas and the quarter end events which FOUNDER’S SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT
QUARTERLY SCHOLARSHIP is given in honor of outstanding performance and dedication
EFREIWAN, MOTASEM
BERE, SIMBA GOTE
TUMMALA, VENKATA
QUARTERLY SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEE
QUARTERLY SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEE
QUARTERLY SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEE
Quarterly Scholarship was also won by: EREMEMRENA, JUDITH
KIM, TAEWON
PROJECT ADVISOR AWARD is given in recognition of outstanding project completion
DAMODARAN, SANTHOSH
DAVID-BANJO, OLALEKAN
PROJECT ADVISOR AWARDEE
PROJECT ADVISOR AWARDEE AND ACADEMIC DEAN’S LIST RECIPIENT
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ON CAMPUS SPOOKTACULAR EXTRAVAGANZA Halloween is one of the rare days when anyone can transform to anything totally different, change their appearance, wear weird clothes and not be considered a psycho. For a day CALUMS became a home for all kinds of creatures you can only think of: demons and princesses, Mickey and Cinderella, minions and witches, you name it. Everybody: students, faculty, and staff members came prepared, wearing their favorite costumes and having fun hanging out together. A professional photo shoot was the main entertainment point for the whole event. We took millions of pictures and all of them came out so good that once you see them, you cannot tell whether it was a casting photo shoot for a movie or a poster for a new cartoon. The event lasted several hours while new people would
join and jump in to have fun. Those who came unprepared were given a lot of choices to change their appearance: monster eyes, vampire teeth, witch's hats, and skulls. The joy was spiced with a lot of scary and delicious snacks from the witch's apothecary: vampire's blood (cranberry juice), vitamin shots (gummy bears), and worms (jelly worms). Pumpkins decorated with candy ghosts were set all over the campus to sweeten the day. It was a great event that brought together children and adults, students and faculty, and gave us all a lot of memories.
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THE THANKSGIVING POTLUCK AND CONCERT The business casual feel of the entire event threw a whole new light on the CALUMS Student Hall, which played venue to the early evening event. So perfectly decorated in such a way that the first thing that greeted everyone who walked in the room was As is our annual custom, the CALUMS Family once the vast entrÊe of international and interagain gathered at the Thanksgiving table, to count continental delicacies which made up the feast of our blessings and the many moments that gave life the potluck. to 2017. The Thanksgiving Potluck and Concert was so It was truly a time of gladness that featured musical much fun for everyone who attended the event, performances by the largest array of artistes, acts faculty, staff and student alike. The event proved to and numbers ever recorded in the history of be a wonderful avenue for the entire CALUMS CALUMS. It saw musical numbers by very talented family to get together in an out of classroom students, like Veta Okoh, who wowed the crowd environment and just have some fun, eating good with her distinctive vocals. Simba’s musical genius food, enjoying good music and taking good was also evident, whether he was playing the piano, pictures. keeping tempo on the drums, or running scales There were other parts of the event that were with his captivating vocals. designed specifically to add spice to the already The concert also witnessed musical numbers from extraordinary gathering, like the Thanksgiving career musicians like Odoom Baisie-Mensah, a photo booth, the chocolate fountain, and CALUMS Ghanaian born guitarist, now based in Bellflower hoodie sales station, all of which enjoyed a good CA, the vocal sensation, Shalom Babalola and the amount of patronage throughout the duration of rock band, Ancient Ruins, whose instrumental the event. More events like this are in the works for medley the crowd just couldn't get enough of. the immediate future. The 2017 Thanksgiving Potluck and Concert was not the first potluck or concert to be held on campus, but it was, by far, poised to be the most memorable to date.
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IN HONOR OF PATRIOTIC SERVICE JOINING THE ARMY - THE BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE. - KATHERINE HJ KIM “I was a regular office clerk, an accountant who had never worked out,” Katherine Kim, a graduate of the MBA program in CALUMS, starts the story. “I was a first generation immigrant who came to the US on my own. I just got my green card and was thinking about my future.” Her story is fascinating and the simplicity she is describing it with is inspiring. Katherine decided she needed to show her loyalty to the country prior to asking for anything back and joined the army. She passed the ASVAB test with a high score, and managed to pass the physical test. In three months she was in basic training. “I was a lazy accountant in my other life, and now I was there, in the field, wearing all ammunition, shooting guns, doing pushups, running in the rain, jumping from towers and yet managing to study,” says Katherine. She admits she was scared at first, and it was not an easy experience overall, but she is proud she completed the challenge successfully. There were 245 people who started basic training with only 46 females. 60 people dropped out. “They challenge you physically and mentally,” explains Katherine. Even though she was 32 when she joined the army, she had to do everything absolutely equally with everybody, primarily 1819 year-old guys. “This is the beauty of the American army, they treat you equally,” continues Katherine. “We, women, can do everything guys can, and sometimes we are even better, we just do not know what we are capable of. We are always told we are weaker, we have our special role in life, being strong is not the first thing that is usually encouraged in us. I want to tell all of our girls in CALUMS: do not judge yourself through someone else's eyes, do not listen to those
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who say you cannot do something. Think out of the box, make your own decisions and follow your dreams! You never know what you can do unless you start”. She graduated at the top of her class. Her graduating score was the second highest in the history of the school. She was awarded The Army Achievement Medal for e xce p t i o n a l a c a d e m i c a c h i e ve m e n t a s t h e Distinguished Honor Graduate. She is now more confident in herself than ever. “When I wear my uniform,” shares Katherine “I hear so many people appreciating me for what I have done and am still doing for the country. They are always saying ‘Thank you for your service’ and it is so encouraging. Even though I am an immigrant, my language might not be perfect, I might not know all the cultural traditions in this country, I am accepted as an equal, as one of American citizens and it makes me so proud and thankful.” Katherine signed up for the reserves. She is still attending monthly drills and is keeping herself in good shape. She is currently working as a CPA accountant for the Federal government in New Orleans. “I have so many benefits now: I have an advantage when applying for a job, I have access to great financial deals and good education. Nothing of this would be possible without my military experience,” concludes Katherine. She encourages all our students to realize that they need to work to achieve what they want, they have to give something to the country before getting any benefits from it. She encourages all of us to follow the rules, pay taxes and invest in ourselves through getting American education and as many professional certificates as possible, because this is what helps when it comes to finding a real job and competing with locals.
IN HONOR OF PATRIOTIC SERVICE THE MILITARY TEACHES YOU HOW TO LIVE ON YOUR OWN - JESSICA BUOT
barrack at 9 pm and still having a lot of home work to do to wake up at 3:30 in the morning the next day.
Jessica is a summa cum laude graduate of the MBA program at CALUMS. If you ever meet her in person, you will notice how positive and open to help others she is. You would definitely see her being reliable and knowledgeable, but the last thing you would think of is her having any relation to the military. But she does.
She was able to go through all the challenges so successfully that she was chosen to be a team leader. “It was not in my plans at all,” says Jessica. “I wanted to stay low, pass all the requirements and graduate, I did not have intention, or will to be a team leader, and there I was overlooking 50 people.” She had to look confident, speak confident and act confident. She had no other choice but “fake it til you become it,” and it built her inner strength and taught her how to stand her ground.
“I wanted to get my citizenship and found out that I could do it by joining the army through MAVNI program,” starts Jessica’s story. “I did not have any doubt, applied for the program, passed the tests and was accepted to the army.” The hardest part of the process for her was taking the physical tests and going through the medical exams, part of which were a little bit on a weird side for a regular person, but she managed. “Once I knew I was accepted, it was the time to choose my military profession,” continues Jessica. “I always wanted to be in the healthcare industry, I have my bachelor's in Nursing, so I read a description, liked it and signed up to be a combat medic. Little did I know that it was considered to be one of the most physically demanding healthcare related jobs in the army.” Her boot camp experience can hardly be called easy. She was competing with younger, and more athletic soldiers. Being a little older, knowing why she made this hard choice, having strong motivation and ability to concentrate helped her through the camp. Her daily schedule was very intense: waking up at 3:30 am to do an hour of physical fitness training, work till 5 in the evening, have a little bit of free time after dinner, go through bed check at 8 pm, coming back to her room in a
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Being a female in the military she had to prove she was as strong as everybody else. She is saying, that even though everybody is treated equally, a female still has to show that she is working hard and not asking for help to earn trust and respect. Jessica graduated second from her class of 300. She signed up for an 8-year contract and is thinking about a 20-year career in the army. She is going on a 1-year mobilization in Kuwait in 2019 and is pretty excited about it. “Military experience teaches you how to live on your own,” concludes Jessica. “You learn how to be independent and rely on yourself in any situation.” Jessica is currently working as a Neurology nurse in a hospital in Texas. She still values her military experience because she is able to do more when she is in the field than when she is in the hospital which increases her qualification. She thinks girls in CALUMS should realize that there is no limit to anything they want to do, they just need to start.
HUMANITY AND SERVICE - ANDREW PRESS Andrew Press, Admissions Director and Enrollment Director, has been working in CALUMS for several years already. All students who have taken classes in our school know him as an outgoing person with a good sense of humor, but almost nobody knows about a part of his life when he was trying to make even more of a difference in other people's lives. This is a noble story he does not brag about, but which is worth telling. It was the year of 2009. Andrew was graduating San Jose State University with a Master’s in Academic Counseling. Towards his graduation, he had the option to go on a trip outside of the US. Among many options he chose Zambia, a country in Southern Africa, and went there for three weeks as a volunteer without knowing what he was getting himself into. The experience was so life changing that he returned to Zambia next year on his own. A group of his fellow students he was traveling with went to Zambia with the sole purpose of helping kids in need to navigate in their lives. “There were many jobs available,” Andrew starts. “I did not have any preference and was ready to do anything that was needed, that is how I ended up working with the most devastating kids, and I am thankful I did.” Zambia has a difficult political and economic situation, there is a huge difference in quality of life between the richest and the poorest. As a result, there is a tremendous humanitarian crisis with thousands of children of all ages living on the streets. “When you live here, in America, you do hear about hunger and abandoned children, of course,” tells Andrew, “But you do not really think about it being real. Luckily, we do not have much of it in the States and you just cannot imagine what a real raw life is out there.” He tries not to go into details with description of what you can see on the streets, but one can draw a picture with a few details he mentioned: children at
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the age of three years and older, living without any adult supervision and support on dirty streets in the outskirts of a big city. No hope, no future, no dreams, nothing. “These are kids, their lives”, continues Andrew. “You cannot fix their problems in one day. All of them need a family, loving and caring adult, who would guide them and teach them what life is and how to act in it to succeed.” Children do not know how diverse life is, what opportunities are out there, the only thing they see: their own, children's world, with their cruel street rules. But there are heroes out there. Carol McBrady, an American citizen, sold all her property in the US and moved to Zambia to save at least some of the homeless kids. She started a foster home, a 4-bedroom house, where she can accommodate up to 25 children at a time. She brings them from the streets, and becomes their family, caring about every single soul, fighting their
Andrew came back to Zambia in 2010 to talk to the children and understand their psychology, their motivation and if they realized how “Mom's house” changed their lives. It was not easy to get them speak from their heart. Children in “the house” are used to constant attention of foreign volunteers who come to help Carol all year round. To win their trust and have them speak about their pain, is a big challenge Andrew was able to overcome. “Kids are kids,” explains Andrew. “Some did not even realize what they had gone through, some did not know answers on simple questions, they were just doing what all kids around them were, but some admitted that “the house” was their chance in life.” The whole trip changed Andrew himself. Through admiring what people are doing in their lives to safe others, embracing what challenges so many people have to face in their lives, one transforms his understanding of live in general. Appreciating simple things, being thankful for friends and family, and helping each other – those are unsophisticated concepts for a happy life. If only all people could follow…
fears and helping them to become better people. The only fact that all kids are calling her “Mom” says everything. Andrew was working with her. “You do not have any specific job,” says Andrew, trying to describe what exactly he was doing there. “You just hang out with kids, help them do their homework, play games with them, or talk.” It sounds easy, but do not let the simplicity of this explanation misguide you. Children with no parents, who had a rough experience in their previous lives, have damaged souls. Sincere attention to their personalities, communication with people who care, helps them heal. “Those kids who stay at Carol's house, are great,” continues Andrew. “They are friendly and positive, they help each other and there are plenty of successful stories of those who grew up in the house, got their education, and are currently helping other kids.” The foster home grows, they recently got a farm, where children work together with their mom, learning how to provide for themselves. “It is a great therapy that changes their minds,” explains Andrew. “Kids, who only knew how to beg and steal, get used to the concept of working for what they want in life. It is not an easy journey and not all of the children accept it, but those who do, have good chances to improve their lives.”
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ANDREW PRESS ADMISSIONS AND ENROLLMENT DIRECTOR IN CALUMS
INSIDE AN INNOVATIVE MIND - BHARATH NADHELLA
BHARATH NADHELLA GRADUATE OF CALUMS
It is said that the whole purpose behind a classroom education is the application of learned principles towards solving everyday challenges. That is why the business exploits of MSCIS student, Bharath Nadhella, cannot go without notice. Especially because he has found a way to allow his business and managerial prowess to shine and not allow the barriers of cultural diversity and immigration status to stand in the way of accomplishing something truly exceptional, whether it is in the business, sports or academic fields. Bharath Nadhella began building his sports profile as a professional cricket player as a 12 year old high school student in Hyderabad, India and played for clubs like Team Speed, Galaxy CC and Evergreen, for varying number of years, until he came to the United States in the Fall of 2015. Upon coming to the US, his passion for the sport, as well as his relentless athleticism remained unabated and he found avenues to display his skill in the Southern California Cricket Association. Bharath now plays for the Pegasus Team, which is listed in the Division 1 category of the Southern California Cricket Association. In a recent interview with The Pipeline, Bharath disclosed that he intends to keep playing cricket as long as he can, because it is a sport that he has come to love, and that even though he cleared the Indian Airforce Common Admissions Test (AFCAT) prior to coming to
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the US, it pales in comparison to the thrill of his time on the cricket pitch. Bharath Kumar Nadhella came to the United States in 2015, at which time he started nursing an idea to start his own company here in America, using the concepts and principles learned in all of his management classes in CALUMS. After two years of nurturing this idea, building necessary connections and setting up relevant structures, he launched ProBags on the 2nd day of November in 2017, also launching a new phase in his life. ProBags was built as a system to promote the production and use of environment friendly tote bags produced using unbleached, colored-cotton, organic fabric, and material produced using 100% PET. In his sit-down with The Pipeline, Bharath said, “If you want to start a business, you have to find a problem and see what you can do about it. For me, that problem was global warming.� He continued to state that global warming has been a major problem facing the entire human race for a while now and making and selling these bags presented a healthy alternative to what is generally obtainable. In trying to achieve this, he found that Australia and New Zealand proved to be the most receptive areas for his ideas, banking on government policies that would potentially allow his business to flourish. Today, ProBags is operated out of a Productions and Operations hub in Hyderabad, India and serves clients in both Australia and in New Zealand. Of course this is done with the intent that the business will go global in due time. The emerging entrepreneur told The Pipeline that his plan includes bringing the business to be able to serve customers in the America and in the United Kingdom within the next 8 months and from there, grow to the rest of the world.
BUILDING THE CALUMS SPIRIT THROUGH A TEAM EFFORT Business education is about gaining not only theoretical knowledge, but putting hands-on practice as much as possible. Professor Aileen Wilson, who led the Marketing Management class this quarter, included an interesting experimental project that became a great experience for all the students and brought something new to our school. She asked students to come up with a real business idea they can start from zero, develop and implement within the quarter and be able to see the results in three months from start. “We were curious. It was our first day of class and we were expecting the professor to start lecturing,” says Thilini Samarasinghe, a student, who took the Marketing Management class. “We were divided into three groups: pricing, promotion and social media. Then we chose a product to work on and this was it, we started our small
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business right there”. The class chose to make CALUMS hoodies and sell them to students. The production team had to come up with designs, get it approved, and make the hoodie. The sales team was advertising and getting students aware about such an activity on campus. “Several skills came on to stage that day: designing, printing, advertising, presentation, communication,” continues Thilini. “We were pretty much a marketing company from the first day of class till finals. It was fun, we never knew that we were going to make this happen until our unity showed up.” This is a great idea that benefits our whole school, providing an opportunity for all our students, graduates and their family to express their dedication to CALUMS.
STUDENT LOUNGE RENOVATION It is always nice to have a place where you can go to relax a little bit, watch a movie, browse the internet, or prepare for classes. During Fall Quarter 2017, some major changes have been made to the CALUMS student lounge on the second floor. The lounge has been divided into several zones: there are bean bags, a couch and a nice carpet for students to relax on; a couple of desks to study and a table to have some food (we do have a kitchen in the lounge). The room has been nicely decorated with pictures of CALUMS students from different years, some inspirational quotes and a shelf with games and tourist guides from all over the US. We encourage all our students to check out the lounge and we hope it will, if not yet, become one of the favorite spots on campus for all of them.
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WE WENT ICE SKATING “Let's do it again!� that is what all the students who went ice skating in December said once the event was over. It was a twohour session in a closed ice skating rink in d ow n t ow n A n a h e i m . Mu s i c , co l d temperature and a lot of people laughing and enjoying themselves on ice gave a special holiday spirit to the event. Even though it was a first ever ice skating experience for some of the students, all of them figured out how to skate after several loops of literally walking around the ice rink holding on to the rail. Students were teaching each other, cheering and supporting those who were gaining a new skill. And laughing, of course. It is always a nice way to make new friends when you are out there doing something new, staying active and sharing a life experience with a fellow student. We hope we will have more events like that.
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W I DATES N T ETORREMEMBER 2 018 01 1 Mon 1 Mon 2 Tues 4 Thur 4 Thur 9 Tues 17 Wed 26 26 Fri Fri 29 Mon -3 Sat
JANUARY
New Year’s Day (University Closed) Classes Start New Student Orientation CPT Requirements Training Last Day to Add and Drop Fire Drill Quarterly and Founder’s Scholarship Application Due
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2 Fri 12 Mon 10 Fri 17 Fri 19 Mon 19 Mon
Mid-Term Exam Period
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13 Tues 30 Fri Fri 30
Final Paper Due (MS611) Registration for Spring Quarter Starts 1st Comprehensive Exam 2nd Comprehensive Exam President’s Day (University Closed) 3rd Comprehensive Exam
24 Fri 20 Tues Student Faculty Evaluation Week -26 Mon
04 2 Fri 6 Tues -12 Mon 9 Fri 9 Fri
FEBRUARY
MARCH
April
1 Sun 2 Mon
Quarter Break Ends Spring Quarter Starts
Quarterly Awards Ceremony Final Exams Period Last Day to Register for Spring 2018 Quarter Quarter Break Starts New Student Orientation CPT Requirements Training
California University of Management and Sciences 721 N. Euclid St., Anaheim, CA 92801 Tel: (714) 533-3946 www.calums.edu
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