Maximizing educational opportunities in the International School of Business

It’s well-known that an education is what you make of it.  When studying towards a BBA at Finlandia, that is certainly the case. In addition to rigorous coursework, a great deal of learning occurs outside of the traditional classroom through internships, extra and co-curricular activities, and other unique opportunities available to Finlandia students. Walker Enstad is one example of a student who has not only excelled in his academic studies, but he has also taken advantage of many of these additional “value-added” learning opportunities available at Finlandia University as a whole, and in the International School of Business in particular.

The spring 2017 international business graduate maintained better than a 3.9 GPA while being a goaltender on the Finlandia men’s hockey team. He was a member of NCHA All-Academic Team every year and earned the Lions Academic Award.

Walker Enstad addresses his classmates and professors during the International School of Business senior luncheon at the Jutila Center.

In May of 2016, he took a big leap by traveling to Tanzania with Rene Johnson’s Service and Learning in Tanzania class. From there he then traveled directly to Finland to study in the Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences summer school Creativity and Communication in Business. “It was the opportunity of a lifetime,” Enstad said. “I really recommend that Finlandia students take advantage of the opportunity to study abroad. It is a unique experience that they won’t regret.”

This past academic year, Enstad performed his internship for the Finlandia Marketing and Communications Department. As the major objective of his internship, he was instrumental in establishing the Finlandia Fridays interview program which diversified into a podcast and has also seen time on local radio. He also helped grow the university’s Snapchat following from 16 to over 600.

In addition, Enstad participated in the last two Martin Luther King, Jr. days of service. Last year he assisted at the Salvation Army and this year he documented all work done for the school as a photographer and videogropher. As a member of the hockey team, he spent numerous hours at various middle schools in the area teaching hockey and helping the children with their school work. For this community service, as well as his academic achievement, and overall leadership, this spring Walker was a co-recipient of the ISB’s Outstanding Senior award along with Schwartzen Jarmond.

All the work and experience has paid off as Walker has landed a position with Apria Healthcare in Littleton, Colorado. His position will be as a Hospital Account Manager in Training whereby he will become a sales representative for Apria’s line of healthcare products. To incoming freshmen and returning students, Walker had the following additional advice, “take your studies seriously, study hard and take advantage of the many opportunities a Finlandia education has to offer.” It’s good advice from someone who’s done just that.