April 30, 2018

What makes a university a home?

Is it the people you meet? The classes you take? The programs you get involved with?

For graduating international business and marketing student Jane Chernykh, it’s been all of these aspects and more that have fueled her love for USC’s Darla Moore School of Business over these last four years.

“I planned to be involved when I came to university, but I never anticipated becoming this obsessed with the Moore School,” she says.

Born in Russia, Chernykh always knew she wanted to pursue international business, and after touring USC’s campus, coming to the Moore School was “an easy choice.”

“I knew I wanted to go into business because it involves the most work with people, and being international to an extent myself, I’ve always enjoyed other cultures and languages,” Chernykh says.

Since enrolling here, she has been involved with Moore School Student Ambassadors as an ambassador, a team leader and now director; the planning committee for the Business Community Leadership Fellows program as a student representative; Freshman Council; Pillars for Carolina as an extended orientation mentor; Carolina Closet; Women LEAD; the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs; and a few other international organizations. She says she was initially overwhelmed by the sheer number of opportunities available to her, but over time, she has learned to balance her many obligations.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with programs that have mentoring and leadership aspects because they allow me to impact future students and give back to this university that has given so much to me,” she says.

While she’s been getting involved outside of her classes, Chernykh has also enjoyed the challenges presented within the classroom. In Daniel Ostergaard’s international business classes especially, she has learned that an education is more than just academics.

“He taught me that when you set high standards for people, people will meet those standards if they are dedicated, willing and motivated,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and potentially fail a little. That kind of challenge is important for developing critical thinking.”

After graduation, Chernykh will be working in HR consulting for Mercer.

“I’m very much looking forward to my career, and I don’t think I would’ve had this opportunity if it weren’t for the Moore School,” she says. “Truly, I have had such a wonderful, well-rounded experience here. I got everything I was looking for — the academic rigor, the extracurricular involvement, and the relationships with classmates in and out of the classroom as well as with administrators, professors, and even Dean Brews.”

When she began college, she was surprised by the many and diverse opportunities that greeted her, but now, because of the place she carved for herself over her four years, the Moore School is home.

“If you had asked me freshman year what I thought of the Moore School, I would have said something like, ‘Oh, it’s a cool building,’” she says. “Now I know this building inside and out because of the many relationships I’ve built here.”

By Madeleine Vath