Anthony Coffie, BBA '21
Being a Ross student isn’t always easy. As Anthony Coffie puts it, “Being a Ross student means pursuing my highest academic and professional self. It means stepping out of my comfort zone. It means being proud of where I come from and also utilizing this platform to uplift and represent where I come from. Ross is a tough experience, but look at what you will gain from it. Good things don't come easy.”
Ross has provided Anthony with resources and mentors that have all played a pivotal role in his BBA journey. Preparation Initiative (PI), a business prep program for students who come from under-resourced backgrounds, has significantly impacted his Ross experience. Through it, he has found a community of students with shared experiences who are pursuing similar goals.
The Ross Integrative Semester also helped Anthony build his community at Ross and learn from his classmates. The Ross Integrative Semester (RIS) is a Signature Learning Experience for students enrolled in their third year of the BBA program. Students are enrolled in BCOM 350: Professional Communication Strategies, BL 300: Business Law and Ethics, MO 300: Behavioral Theory in Management, and TO 313: Operations Management, in which content is integrated across all courses.
During the semester, student teams tackle a RIS project, which challenges them to incorporate concepts that they have learned in these courses to solve a problem and develop a pitch to present to their peers, professors, and guest judges. This year, students were tasked with addressing the issue of how to improve carbon neutrality at U-M. A “I think the RIS project was helpful in getting to know other people, learning to multitask, learning to schedule, and learning to present," says Anthony.
Additionally, Anthony credits the Ross Career Development Office (CDO) and his CDO coach, Dwana Jones, as great resources within the Ross community that he has utilized. Through one-on-one interview coaching, Dwana helped him secure his summer 2019 internship in the sales and trading division at Deutsche Bank in New York City.
Anthony’s advice to prospective students? Know that everyone faces challenges but that there's a community they can turn to for support. “ It's easy to sit there and think that you're the only one in the class struggling. But you're not alone.”
Anthony also stresses the importance of pursuing your own passions outside of the classroom. “Find what you want to do and then find other things that could supplement what you want to do."
In addition to his focus on finance, Anthony is pursuing a minor in German and music: “I hope to be able to maybe work in Germany someday, whether it's in a music capacity or a business capacity — or both.”