University of Utah Honors College Periodical

T H E H O N O R S C O LLE G E

Academic year

2015-2016

PERIODICAL

honors.utah.edu

Featuring: THE BUSINESS COLLEGE

Issue

#001 business.utah.edu

STUDENT HIGHLIGHT GRADUATES Spring 2016 Graduates with Honors Bachelor Degrees from the Business College

E

lena Nazarenko, who graduated fall 2015 with an honors bachelor’s degree in finance and bachelor’s degrees in economics and mathematics majors, has interned for

Goldman Sachs, guided MBA students on investment analysis as an undergraduate and won honors for her research. As Nazarenko

Accounting Colten Kurumada Allison Uchida

reflects on her academic journey, she can’t credit any single

Entrepreneurship Emmaline Deiss

Originally from the Ukraine, Nazarenko moved to Salt Lake City

Finance Elena Nazarenko

just under 10 short years, managed to excel in English and

Operations Management Mckell Denna

pivotal point for her success, but describes her successes as a result of being open to opportunities as they became available. when she was 13 years old. She didn’t speak any English, but in become the first in her family to graduate from college. Not only was she the first to graduate, but she also graduated debt free.

Nazarenko cites her mother, who was a waitress in the Ukraine, as her inspiration to excel academically.

“I saw her work hard every single day and learned from an early

PRESENTATIONS •

Denna, Mckell, Undergraduate Research

Symposium, “The influence of operational changes on employee engagement and customer satisfaction; an exploratory study” •

Kurumada, Colten, Undergraduate

Research Symposium, “Salary Cap Accounting: The Unique Financial Constraint for Professional Sports Organizations”

age that when you don’t have the academic and professional credentials, you’re forced to take a job you don’t love just to pay the bills. My mother helped me understand just how vital having an education is in being able to afford basic living and gaining upward mobility,” said Nazarenko.

During her time at the U, Nazarenko took advantage of every opportunity presented to her and encourages other future and current students to do the same.

Nazarenko was vice president of the U’s International Student

THE HONORS COLLEGE PERIODICAL

Featuring: THE BUSINESS COLLEGE

Council, a group of over 1,000 international students. From May-August 2013, Nazarenko worked as an analysis intern for Goldman Sachs’ financial division, where she evaluated over 50 European mutual funds on key risk indicators such as regulation, strategy, investment, and management.

The following summer, Nazarenko worked as an investment analyst intern for Beneficial Financial Group. When she returned to school in fall 2014, she served as team leader for BUS 5880: Business Internship at the U. There, she supervised five undergraduate and MBA students with the completion of credit reports, as well as taught basic Bloomberg functions and credit report techniques.

In regards to her degree from the Honors College, Nazarenko says honors courses and professors introduced her to new ways of thinking and helped her develop critical thinking skills.

“I loved how interdisciplinary the courses were because they gave me a chance to switch gears and step outside of my majors,” said Nazarenko.

Nazarenko’s honors thesis, “Current and Future Financial Wellbeing of Old Age Russian Pensioners,” examined whether the total income of old age pensioners in Russia is sufficient to meet the subsistence level and/or the cost of living. Out of 128 applicants, Nazarenko’s thesis won an Honorable Mention from the Honors College and Marriott Library in 2015.

Right now Nazarenko is preparing for graduate school and working as a learning assistant for Math 1010 at U, where she instructs two class sections. She also tutors math at the U’s athletics department and Salt Lake Community College’s learning center. After graduate school, Nazarenko hopes to enter academia and become a professor.

May , 2016

Issue #001

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