BUSINESS MANAGEMENT/MARKETING, CLASS OF 2021
Vitoria Castilho, an international student from Brazil, was not sure about where she wanted to transfer until she talked with Women’s Soccer Coach Diego Cevallos.
“He told me he was from Costa Rica and that there were a lot of international students at Judson, even other Brazilians, who could make me feel at home,” Vitoria explained. “Right away I got that sense of community that I was longing for.”
Vitoria felt warmly welcomed into the Women’s Soccer Team and became involved in the International Department. She says, “I developed so many relationships in the soccer team and outside with other students, with professors, and that made me feel like I belonged, even coming from another country.”
Vitoria chose to double major in Business Management and Marketing. She participated in an amazing Global Outreach trip to Costa Rica with her teammates in 2019. During that trip, she experienced a whole different lifestyle compared to the one in America.
“We’re so focused with school and work and trying to deal with a million things at once that sometimes we fail to be grateful for having all those things,” she reflects. “This trip was life-changing to me. I [encourage everyone who] has the opportunity to be [on] any of the trips to take it because there’s so much to learn from it.”
Learning about leadership at Judson was one of the most beneficial skills that Vitoria has transferred to her work after graduation. “In my last semester at Judson I took BUS 401 called Leading Teams with Dr. Jack Groppel and that class helped me get a sense of what life would be after I graduated,” she says.
Since she graduated in 2021, Vitoria stays in contact with her friends and professors through LinkedIn. She currently works as a Client Service Associate at JP Morgan Private Bank in Chicago and is planning to earn her Master’s degree.
Vitoria is extremely grateful for the professors and staff at Judson who helped her prepare for her work at JP Morgan. She interviewed with the company while she was a student and received a job offer shortly after her graduation.
“Being a small school, we get to know our professors and we can actually ask for help whenever we need it. So when I needed help with my LinkedIn profile and my resume and preparing for interviews, Judson provided me with that,” Vitoria says.