BBA Graduates: The Lessons I Learned at WSB

On May 11, six hundred sixty-three students graduated with a BBA degree from the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Many of them will stay in Wisconsin and lend their skills to local companies like Kohl’s, Northwestern Mutual, and Kimberly-Clark. Many will move across the country (or globe) for positions at companies like Target, Deloitte, PwC, and Oracle. Others will take on high-profile volunteer opportunities at organizations like the Peace Corps.

We spoke with two graduating students, Maddy Hottinger (BBA ’19) and Maggie Greifenkamp (BBA ’19) about their time in the Wisconsin BBA Program, the biggest lessons they learned, and turning points in their college experiences that ultimately led to the jobs they’ll soon be starting.

Hottinger, like many undergraduates, was unsure about what to study. That all changed when she took Real Estate 306. She graduated with real estate and marketing majors, and will use both of them when she starts at Heitman in Chicago as a part of the real estate investment firm’s client service team.

Greifenkamp majored in operations and technology management and marketing, and earned a certificate in supply chain management. She will begin a supply chain and operations rotational program at Milwaukee Tool. She landed this position after connecting with the company through a WSB career fair—an opportunity she highlights as a major benefit the School provides.

To Hottinger and Greifenkamp, the personal connections they made at WSB were central to their business school experiences. “I met the most amazing people in the Wisconsin School of Business,” says Hottinger. “I basically spent every day, all day here … and built relationships I know will last forever.”