Master of International Business student receives UF Graduate Student Mentoring Award

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Sandy Liu (BSBA Information Systems and Operations Management ’18, MIB ’19) was one of six recipients of the University of Florida Graduate Student Mentoring Award presented at UF’s Graduate Student Research Day this week.

The Graduate Student Mentoring Award, given by the UF Graduate School, is intended to reward graduate students who take time to help others succeed as graduate or undergraduate students or in K-12 classrooms.

Liu mentors both graduate students in the Master of International Business program as well as undergraduate students in the Heavener School of Business in programs like the Business Undergraduate Mentorship Program and Heavener Leadership Challenge.

“There was a pool of 50+ graduate nominees – incredible leaders across all fields of study: biology, medicine, engineering, etc.,” she said. “To have been selected for the Graduate Student Mentoring Award, feeling honored was to say the least. Grateful is probably the word to sum it up.

“I thank the University of Florida for fostering an environment where mentorship is valued. I thank all the mentors I have had during my time at the University for teaching and showing me what being a mentor truly meant. I thank the Warrington College of Business for providing me with the opportunities to give back to the community I love. And lastly, I thank my mentees for not only letting me become a part of their journey, but for also helping me grow in every way.”

In addition to the Graduate Student Mentoring Award, Liu has received the John H. Gray Study Abroad Scholarship, the CAPA Diversity Advocate Scholarship and is on the Warrington College of Business Dean’s List. She has held various leadership positions during her time at Warrington including as a Hough Graduate Ambassador in the Master of International Business program, International Programs Student Ambassador, Leadership Development Program Ambassador, and Curriculum Committees Chair in the UF-TYPE Initiative, a student organization and outreach program that educates local students on how to write code.

Liu completed her bachelor’s degree in the fall of 2018, majoring in Information Systems and Operations Management, and will complete her Master of International Business degree in the spring of 2019.

Upon graduation, she will be working for Deloitte as a Strategy Operations Analyst.

For Liu, mentorship has been an important part of her time at the Warrington College of Business, and she’s proud to have provided guidance to some of her peers along the way.

“My mentoring philosophy [is] regardless of upbringings, culture and background, people experience doubt and uncertainty – these feelings can make an individual feel lost, incompetent and vulnerable,” she said. “This is why mentorship is important – mentors replace those negative sentiments with resources and knowledge that enables people to grow. A mentor does not make the decisions for another person or tell him or her what is right or wrong. Rather, a mentor is there to help individuals identify their goals and interests, provide them with the tools and connections and celebrate their successes.

“Although some may solely think of their mentors in a professional setting, I believe that mentorship is omnipresent in every aspect of our lives. People we may not formally call a mentor, such as an advisor, an older sibling, an older friend, anyone who have helped us grow professionally and personally are mentors. Mentorship is a two-way street, one learns about themselves in the process of teaching others. Mentorship exists to push individuals to their potential while being that support system when failures and hardships arise.”