Beemnet Gebremariam

Marketing and Management double major and international student extraordinaire

Beemnet Gebremariam, an international student from Ethiopia, has such a bright, engaging spirit that it inspired Kyle Ward, Ph.D., to do a pretty cool thing.

“When I found out where she was coming from and her background, it helped me get more involved as one of the campus advisors for the Ethiopian student organization, Tigray,” said Dr. Ward, professor and director of social studies.

That’s Gebremariam for you – so full of life, personality and fortitude that she inspires others. Dr. Ward saw this firsthand when Gebremariam was a student worker in the history department, serving as a temporary office manager.

The respect was mutual, she said. “I don’t have words to explain how much I respect him,” said Gebremariam, who has had one main goal during her time studying and working in Mankato: to take all that she learns and bring those lessons back to her home country of Ethiopia.

“I want to own my own company and offer different kind of opportunities for Ethiopians back home,” Gebremariam said. “Here in America, there are different opportunities and ideas, and I want to gather all those different ideas and bring them back to Ethiopia.”

Gebremariam is a sophomore double major in marketing and management. She chose Minnesota State Mankato because she has a cousin who attends the University and told her how welcoming the community is to international students. Gebremariam found that to be very true and successfully encouraged her brother, Tinsay Gebremariam, to leave Ethiopia to study here, too.

Gebremariam is a lead dispatcher in University Security, she’s involved with the Ethiopian Students Association, and she joined the College of Business Student Executive Team (SET) to help international students like her.

“When I first came here to Minnesota State Mankato, I was having many difficulties because, as an international student, I didn’t know what was going on here on campus, or how to con nect with different faculty,” she said. “So, when I saw that there was a position on the SET team, I wanted to be part of it because I wanted to engage with students who had those same questions and be more involved in the College of Business.”

Gebremariam hopes to land an intern ship in marketing at a large company, and she’s keeping her options wide open on her field of choice. After graduation she hopes to work in marketing in the United States to gain as much knowledge as possible before moving back to Ethiopia to be an entrepreneur.

“I want to work here for some time and gain a lot of experience and take this knowledge to my home country and make a difference,” she said.