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Alumni Profile: Michael Szymanski
Michael Szymanski graduated from St. Norbert College in 2005 with a double major in Business Administration and Psychology and minor in Leadership Studies.
As an Economic Development Volunteer with the Peace Corps in the Republic of Macedonia, Michael is working in the Center for Local Economic Development in the Municipal Government of Stip. His work there is focused on linking local government, civil society and business to create economic and educational opportunity.
Michael is currently working with Goce Delchev University’s Economics faculty to create one of the first career centers in Macedonia. The Center for Career and Development will help connect students and businesses to create internship opportunities and has already started a speaker’s series, which invites business leaders to share their experience with students. The Center also teaches students the basics of writing resumes and cover letters and organizes workshops and other out-of-the-classroom learning opportunities.
He is also working with a local technical high school to expand the catering and tourism branch of the school. The project will create an outdoor restaurant, which is being built by students from the electro-machine branch of the school. The restaurant will give students from the school’s catering branch an opportunity gain experience cooking and serving food in a real-world context while providing the school with a sustainable revenue source to fund future projects.
Outside of his primary work in Stip, Michael travels around Macedonia facilitating workshops on business skills, entrepreneurial thinking, project management and has taught at youth leadership camps. For the last three months of his service in Macedonia he will be a trainer for the new group of Peace Corps Volunteers working in the Community Development sector.
He credits a freshman-year trip to the African nation of Zambia with the SNC “Zambia Project” as a major reason for his career calling as a Peace Corps volunteer. The Norbertine ideals of responsibility, collaboration and understanding, and service to local and global communities was a defining part of his education at St. Norbert and played a large role in setting the direction of his post graduation life.
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SNC Class:
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| 2005 |
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Position Area(s):
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| Peace Corps Volunteer, Macedonia – Economic Development |
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Major/Minor(s):
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Business Administration and Psychology/ Leadership Studies
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