Coming from a large family, Carmen Galindo ’18 has plenty of experience planning parties: birthdays, weddings and even her parents’ 25th wedding anniversary. It’s no surprise her goal is to own an event planning business.
As a business management major with a minor in marketing, Carmen realizes that her career options are numerous. Additionally, she is gaining invaluable leadership skills serving as the vice president of the Immaculata Enactus team. Enactus is an international organization that pairs college students with corporate sponsors to improve the world through entrepreneurial action. By applying what they learn in the classroom, Immaculata’s students have made a difference both in the local community as well as abroad.
Carmen serves as the project lead for Enactus’ fundraising efforts to support the Emilia Wojtyla Shelter of El Alto, Bolivia, a shelter that helps abused women and children in Bolivia. Fluent in Spanish, Carmen works directly with the team in Bolivia. Through her endeavors for the Emilia Wojtyla Shelter, she is gaining invaluable leader skills. Astonished to learn that Bolivia has the highest rate of women in Latin America who have experienced domestic violence (52 percent), Carmen is pleased that each year the program continues to grow and receive positive results that help women who often are younger than she is.
Taking a business ethics class with Immaculata professor Charlene Fitzwater, Ph.D., has allowed her to discern her leadership style.
“Many of the business classes taught me how to work with different people and to be open to different perspectives,” Carmen notes. On her list of traits for a great leader, she would include patience and respect for others’ opinions.
She learned this lesson while working as an intern at a Hilton hotel. “My job was to be pleasant and listen to what the customer was trying to convey—even if the conversation was not pleasant. You can always find a solution,” she adds.
Born in Abington, Pa. and raised in Levittown in Bucks County, Carmen’s parents are originally from Guanajuato, Mexico. She shares her cultural experiences with other students as a member of Latin Flavor, the IU Spanish club, and the IU Dance Company. She also enjoys music, spending time with her cousins and visiting the beach. Carmen loves to cook authentic Mexican food, such as chile con carne, for herself and her friends.
As a senior preparing to graduate, her advice to incoming students is simple: “Go to class and get involved. It’s not as hard as you think.” Her only personal regret was that she would have started at Immaculata as a freshman instead of transferring as a junior. “It was worth the wait, though!”