José Jarquín, Marketing

When José Jarquín evaluated his college options, part of the reason he chose USF was the opportunity to be a part of the inaugural cohort for the Business Honors Program. The program requires that students take rigorous courses, conduct research and write a thesis, and study abroad, in addition to spending two years in the Bulls Business Community. A native of Guatemala, he was excited about the opportunities this program would provide.

Jarquín participated in professional development workshops, took part in community service programs, and spent a summer with fellow BBC students on a study abroad program to Slovakia – all while holding down a part-time job. He did so well in the BBC that he was selected to serve as a mentor to new residents during his second year there and served as a resident assistant his third year. Despite the workload and course load, Jarquín never let his academic performance drop.

Jarquín’s thesis examines the impact internships have on student success – a topic that resonates with him. Jarquín has already served as an intern twice. His first internship was in Guatemala with Leo Burnett Worldwide, a network of global advertising agencies. There, he helped create and implement point-of-purchase events and conducted client research. His internship at Fortune 200 IT products distributor Tech Data was quite different. He learned new software and used it to educate the sales team and update internal sales portals. The experiences paid off. He recently accepted a full-time offer with Tech Data.