The Parker Business Scholars program at Georgia Southern University is a challenging two-year flagship program designed to give high achieving students an additional competitive edge through the development of personal and professional skills. It is the hope of the program that these skills will set them up to stand apart in their future career paths.
The program began in 2019 with a mission of building these exceptional students, each earning their spot in the scholars program, into a framework of all the elements they'll need to succeed in their future workplace and communities.
“We want to invest in students who have demonstrated early leadership potential, who are curious and motivated," said Danielle Smith, director of experiential learning & corporate relationships of the Parker College of Business. "Being a Parker Business Scholar isn't about being the perfect student; it's about acting on a drive to learn, be creative, and engage in big-picture thinking and knowing that being in a position to lead also includes, ultimately, giving back.”
Students selected for the Parker Business Scholars Program go through a competitive, multistage application process that includes a written submission and interviews with business leaders, faculty, and current scholars.
Many begin preparing years in advance, actively building their résumés, leadership skills, and campus involvement throughout their freshman and sophomore years to earn a coveted spot in the program.
Each spring, Parker Business Scholars seniors travel to San Francisco as a capstone to their Strategic Management course to give students a firsthand look at innovation in action, exposing them to business trends and strategic thinking in Silicon Valley, a national hub for entrepreneurship and industry disruption.
Through company visits and real-world observation, students gain insights into building competitive business plans and securing buy-in from investors, employees, and customers.
This final experience for the seniors encourages broader thinking and equips the students with new tools for solving complex business challenges as they take the next steps in their careers.
Out of these students selected into the program, Carly Gagne, Luke Powell, and Sean Robertson represent Southeast Bulloch High School as they mark their names in history, being the first students to ever be selected for the program from the high school.
These three students representing the Bulloch County area will be graduating from Georgia Southern one year early through their dedicated hard work, able to call themselves a Parker Business Scholar alumni, but they are not alone.
They will stand alongside 79 other high achieving students graduating from the program. All 82 seniors will graduate in the university’s beloved Paulson Stadium on Wednesday, May 14, at 10 a.m., as they take their next steps into a new chapter of their lives.
The Parker Business Scholars program continues to build these students every semester, giving each one the foundation needed to succeed in whatever career avenue they may take throughout their life.
Congratulations to the current and graduating Parker Business Scholars!
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Carter Allen, Senior, Logistics & Supply Chain
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Brianna Daniel, Senior, Accounting
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Carly Gagne, Senior, Hospitality Management
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Hannah Gainous, Senior, Accounting
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Andrei Gubenko, Senior, Finance
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Alynah Jonas, Senior, Accounting
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Jacob Lord, Senior, Finance
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Christopher Lyons, Senior, Economics
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Jennifer Obiri-Yeboah, Senior, Accounting
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Luke Powell, Senior, Finance
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Sean Robertson, Senior, Economics
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Holley Chapman, Junior, Economics
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Montse R. Ejarque, Junior, Marketing
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Herbert Hall, Junior, Economics
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Jonathan Hallenbeck, Junior, Logistics & Supply Chain
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Colby Pritchett, Junior, Finance
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Jessie Schroeder, Junior, Marketing
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Charlotte Snyder, Junior, Finance
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Braxton Wiley, Junior, Finance