It is the end of an era. The last two of the five founding members of Collegiate Women in Business (CWIB), McKenzi MacDowall and Shannon Lavery, are graduating from Virginia Tech today. While we are so sad to watch them leave our beautiful home of Blacksburg, we want to showcase these two wonderful ladies and highlight their inspirational college stories.
In 2014, McKenzi, a Finance major with a minor in Entrepreneurship, and Shannon, a Public Relations major with a Hospitality cognate, founded this organization with [now] alumnae, Shannon Cabrey, Catie Kidwell, and Corrigan Serpa, and faculty advisor, Gina French. This original group of six didn’t just start a club; they formed relationships that has left a lasting impact on their lives. When asked how CWIB has affected them, both of them referenced this group.
“CWIB gave me the platform to discover who I am as a leader, as a professional, and as a friend”, McKenzi notes.
“Our five founders became best friends. I learned more from them than any of my classes.” Shannon added on and brought up the quote, “You are the sum of the five people that you spend the most time with.” She says that it is the relationships she has with her co-founders, faculty advisor, and the rest of the people she connected with in the club that shaped her into the person she has become.
Looking at the organization today, it is hard to believe that it is only three and a half years old. The growth and development that CWIB has gone through is something that both Shannon and McKenzi learned things from.
For Shannon, the first meeting of this Fall semester stands out in her mind. She explains, “It was a surreal feeling to see an organization that four years ago did not exist, and that now overflows a classroom that has over 200 seats. That memory in particular stands out to me because I was so happy as I listened to CWIB’s new leadership team as they ran the meeting.and all of the discussions that I shared with so many smart, unique, amazing women...That meeting was proof of the strength and talent of the leadership team and CWIB’s membership.”
For McKenzi, it gave her the confidence to take leaps of faith. She says, “We learned as we went and discovered the beauty of uncertainty along the way. The experience of founding a student organization and growing it from five to over two hundred has built personal confidence in my ability to figure it out as a go. It gave me the courage to pursue opportunities that I didn’t feel prepared for, like an internship on Wall Street and moving to Southeast Asia alone for an internship.”
These two talented, driven, and charismatic young women have definitely achieved a lot during their time here at Virginia Tech. As a result, I wanted to ask them what their piece of advice is for us CWIB members who aren’t graduating yet, but are preparing for the real world.
McKenzi’s advice centered around figuring out who you are. She argues that, “The most important thing you can do while in college is to develop self-awareness. Self-awareness is simply knowing yourself; knowing your personal strengths and weaknesses, values, interests, and - very importantly - how you affect people. When you know yourself you can always play to your strengths and refine your weaknesses.” McKenzi says that developing self-awareness in college is so important because we have unlimited time and opportunities to do so and finding your direction makes it a lot easier to get to your destination. To do this, you need to do some self discovery. There are multiple ways to do this, but particularly, McKenzie keeps a journal (she would love to help others get started, so if you’re interested, contact her at mmcken9@vt.edu).
McKenzi's favorite quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world” - Mahatma Ghandi.
Shannon’s piece of advice to CWIB members is to work hard to make connections with people.
“I believe that it is so important, especially in today’s day and age, to be in a state of constant learning. You never know exactly what will spark your interest, or where you will meet someone that will influence and make an impact on your life. Be open to new people, new experiences, and new opportunities”, states Shannon. “Take advantage of it, try out something new and most importantly do it for you. Prioritize your well-being for the sake of yourself and for others, surround yourself with the people that see the best in you, inspire and that believe in you and remember that all we have is this moment right now. Use that to empower you as you make the most out of your time here at Virginia Tech and as you enter the real world. Enjoy every moment!”
Shannon's favorite quote: “We can change our future, by changing our relationship to the present.” Jon Kabat-Zinn
These two, who met on move-in day freshman year, have many fond memories with each other. McKenzi’s favorite memory is when they got lost on the Dragon Tooth trail. With a short supply of food and beverages and only one live cell phone in tow, Shannon and McKenzi missed the break in the trail. As a result, they had to hike an extra seven hours and were sore for a week! Shannon’s favorite memory occured on the way back from a leadership team event. During the car ride, they were either singing to music or sitting in silence. While talking about this story, she says that, “There is never a dull moment, and never a boring conversation and I would not have it any other way.”
While Shannon will miss the club’s monthly Wednesday meetings and McKenzi will miss the comradery of the leadership team, both of them are excited for their post-graduation plans. Shannon will move back home to Washington, D.C. to work and take some time to officially decide what full-time job to commit to. McKenzi is going to move to Seattle, Washington to work for Capria Venture to pursue the role that she’s been interested in for a couple of years now: impact investing.
Congratulations again, McKenzi and Shannon! We greatly admire the two of you for your hard work, dedication, and passion that you brought to CWIB. We are going to miss you so much, but we cannot wait to see all of the amazing things that you two will do out in the real world!