Adyson Edwards is an Eccles Ambassador who recently visited the home office of Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Arkansas. She shares her Eccles Experience there and the opportunities she was able to take advantage of while on the excursion.

The Eccles Ambassadors had the unique and exciting opportunity to travel to the home office of one of the largest businesses in the world, Wal-Mart.

In class, students have spent the semester working on a case study involving the production and sourcing of produce within the company. What is the process of getting the produce from a seed into the hands of the consumer? After visiting a tomato greenhouse in Mona, Utah, we were ready to head to Wal-Mart itself.

This trip would not have been possible without the amazing alumni of the University of Utah. Andrea Thomas, senior vice president of marketing at Wal-Mart and an alum of the University of Utah, was able to set up an amazing day of presentations to teach us more about the sourcing process. Not only did we learn about the great things Wal-Mart has underway regarding produce, store layouts, and humanitarian efforts, but we also were given incredible networking opportunities that are already beginning to pay off.

When sitting in the conference room, one speaker working in the data analytics and operations department asked the room who had taken a computer class in college yet. Everyone proceeded to raise their hands. He then asked who enjoyed the course, everyone put their hands down aside from myself. This led to him inviting me outside in the hall after his presentation and informing me of internship opportunities available with him and the rest of the operations team. We then exchanged information and connected on LinkedIn.

This connection was not the only one that was made while at the visit. Many ambassadors were able to network with executives at the company, who also offered internships and connected with them to open a number of doors for us for the future.

Not only were we able to learn about a great company and network, but we also were able to have some fun and experience the town of Bentonville by attending a farmer’s market as well as the Annual Squirrel Cook-Off.

Many experiences and connections were made on the trip, not only with the executives of Wal-Mart, but also in assisting with an open house for possible future students at Andrea Thomas’ home. It was an amazing trip filled with education, recreation, and networking, to help assist us in our futures. These are the kinds of Eccles Experiences that are preparing us to enter the business world upon graduation.