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When Aishwarya was looking at colleges, she sought one “that would give me the flexibility to pursue both a liberal arts and business education.” The Huntsman Program attracted her because she wanted to continue studying Spanish in college and knew that she definitely wanted to study abroad.

“So when I stumbled upon the Huntsman Program,” says Aishwarya, “I knew it was the perfect fit. It combined exactly what I was looking for: a liberal arts education focusing on international culture and language and the practical business aspect.” She was also attracted to the fact that it provided her with a small community within the vast sea of college life, which was comforting to her as an incoming freshman. Aishwarya says that socially, the Huntsman students have been a great group of friends as well as a strong safety net.

Aishwarya appreciates the “diversity and flexibility” of the Huntsman curriculum. “Although there are requirements to fulfill in both schools, I still had the option of studying Chinese in addition to my target language Spanish and exploring various history, political science, and math courses,” she says.

During her studies in the Huntsman Program, Aishwarya’s developed an interest in emerging economies and has been able to pursue that interest outside of the classroom as well. She’s part of a team made up mostly of MBA students, which works with Professor Guillén, the director of the Lauder Institute (the graduate level version of the Huntsman Program). They are conducting research that compares various consumer product categories and aims to see how markets have developed differently in Mexico, Brazil, China and Russia.

Another research interest developed during Aishwarya’s semester abroad in Barcelona. “When I studied abroad, I realized that Barcelona was unlike any other Spanish city that I had ever visited. I was curious to find out what catalyzed the formation Barcelona’s identity as it is today.” She observed that Barcelona was able to successfully leverage the Olympic Games to become one of Spain’s top tourist cities. Her senior thesis will analyze the economic effects of the Olympic Games in Spain and Barcelona, asking why Barcelona was able to take advantage of this global event.

Beyond academics and research, Aishwarya’s major activity during the past four years has been establishing an Indian classical dance group, Thillana. Aishwarya had studied Indian classical dance throughout middle school and high school. When she got to Penn, she realized that there wasn’t an avenue available for her to continue learning and practicing. Comparing the dance style to ballet, Aishwarya explains that it’s necessary to continuously practice to avoid losing the necessary flexibility and posture. “I realized that while there were many fusion Indian dance groups on campus, many people weren’t aware of the Indian classical dance genre.” So, she teamed up with some sophomores who had a similar idea, and together they co-founded Thillana to share the tradition of the Indian classical arts with the Penn and greater Philadelphia community. Aishwarya served as President of the group during her junior and senior year.

During the summer after her freshman year, Aishwarya landed an internship with Citi in Mumbai, India, at their derivative sales desk. It was her first real work experience and helped her recognize her interest in Finance, which she later declared as her Wharton concentration. During her sophomore summer, she was in a rotation program at Merrill Lynch, which allowed her to compare her experience working in an emerging financial market and a developed one. She was able to see how financial products could be targeted at emerging economies. Aishwarya has already been offered a full time position in mergers & acquisitions for after graduation. She plans to continue studying Chinese.