Successful Career in International Business:  Meet Alumnus Jamie Holland

“Since I obtained my BS at Alliant in International Business Administration, this made me an attractive candidate at my current post,” says 2002 CUE graduate Jamie Holland. “Most of my business classes have been put to practical use in my current post and I refer back to what I learned in my International Business, Economics, Accounting, Import/Export, Management, Marketing, and other classes. Many of the presentations and group projects that we had to do are all a significant part of what I do today and I am so glad that I chose Alliant to pursue my degree.”

Jamie Holland, who is now Marketing Coordinator for Mitsui Plastics, Inc., took his first steps into International Business by enrolling at Alliant

Holland is currently applying what he’s learned at Alliant to his position as Marketing Coordinator for Mitsui Plastics, Inc., a Japanese trading company in New York.

Holland was born in Okinawa, Japan, in a US military hospital, to an Okinawan mother and American father. The bilingual businessman celebrates three cultures (Okinawan being distinct from Japanese) and studied French while a graduate student at Webster University in Geneva, Switzerland. While pursuing a BS in International Business Administration, he took advantage of Alliant’s study abroad program, studying Germany in Vienna, Austria.

“Thanks to Alliant, I was able to study abroad in Vienna, Austria for an entire quarter of intense German which I currently use at my job since the account that I am charge of has a branch in Düsseldorf, Germany.  Furthermore, I would not have looked further into studying abroad if it not had been for Alliant.”

Holland was drawn to Alliant by its diverse student body, which he believed would complement his bi-racial background and interest in learning about the professional practices and ethics of different cultures. Holland was not disappointed.

“Alliant (USIU) has taught me many invaluable things way beyond the classroom,” he says. “When countries were going to war and people were killing each other on TV over land, power, religion, I was able to sit in the dining hall or go to the sports center with the very people who are supposed to have animosity towards each other, have a peaceful meal, talk about sports, joke around, and build strong friendships.  I’ve learned that nobody is more superior to the other and that we can all get along.”

Holland learned from his professors as well. “Once I arrived and started taking classes, I found out that not only were my expectations of diversity there, but the caliber of our professors was phenomenal.”

Professors at CUE often serve as more than teachers to their students, but as professional and personal mentors, as Holland attests to. “All of them had a great impact in my life.  They were not only professors, but mentors and friends that really challenged us and brought to the course real life situations and developed our analytical skills. I had the image that the professor’s may be a little distant and have their assistants teach their classes, but the professors were always there and really challenging us to excel in every aspect: academically, professionally, and personally.”