Through serving on the Global Supply Chain Association (GSCA) at the BYU Marriott School of Business, senior Tyler Anderson connects with students going through the same uncertainty he experienced in his freshman and sophomore years. “I came into things unsure. I knew I wanted to do business, but I didn’t know where I wanted to land,” the Richmond, Virginia, native says.
So, while he completed the prerequisite business classes, Anderson went to various programs’ events to learn about what each major offered. “I met a lot of genuine people who want the best for the students,” he says. “Instead of convincing me to join their own program, they’d ask, ‘What’s your personality? What are your pursuits? What do you want?’ Then they’d point me in the right direction.”
With the guidance of faculty and recruiters, he discovered an interest in analytics, logistics, and statistics. In the GSCM program, he valued the chance to explore various aspects of supply chain, such as financial statements, data analytics, and marketing. “I could get a little bit of everything,” Anderson says.
Anderson used his lessons in logistics in an internship with Walmart, helping to source products for the company’s stores in Alaska and Hawaii. “It was super interesting,” he says. His internship allowed him to work with a wide variety of suppliers and industries to facilitate supplies for the products in the Alaska and Hawaii outlets.
After returning from his internship, Anderson began taking classes for a minor in healthcare leadership after members of the Healthcare Leadership Collaborative mentioned that supply chain and healthcare paired well together. Anderson says that the skills he’s learned in his major can also benefit healthcare, where business operations happen right alongside the medical procedures.
“To me, the idea of working in healthcare has a lot of benefits,” he explains. “It seems like rewarding work, and work that I would be more comfortable and more fulfilled doing.”
Confident that the skills he’s learned will help him in any career, Anderson says that he enjoys being a part of the GSCM program. He also enjoys being in the GSCA presidency, where he works to help pre-business students decide where they want to land, paying forward the mentorship he himself received.
“I’m a couple steps ahead of them, so I can explain to them what helped me and give them advice,” he says. “It’s rewarding to get to know the underclassmen and be a trusted source of information for them.”
