After moving from Los Angeles to West Jordan, Utah about five years ago, Diego Alvarez knew he wanted to attend the University of Utah — after all, he viewed it as “the University of Utah.” And after taking a few business-oriented classes in high school and doing some social media work for his church, he knew that the David Eccles School of Business was the right place for him to pursue a degree.

And yet, as he reflected upon how his freshman year at the U played out, he was struck by how little it resembled the stereotypical meet-new-people-and-have-lots-of-new-experiences scenario he’d been hoping for.

He’d commute to campus, attend his classes, stick around for an hour or two to grab some food or work on a project, head home, take a nap, then do his homework. And that was pretty much it. “I hadn’t done anything,” Diego recalled wistfully.

Well, that’s not entirely true. As a student in the Eccles School, he had participated in two case competitions, and he had enjoyed the camaraderie inherent in being part of a group effort.
His subsequent epiphany was simple and straightforward: He needed to get out of his comfort zone and put himself in situations where he could, y’know, actually meet new people and have new experiences.

Now a junior studying marketing and planning to minor in business analytics, Diego has become a poster child for what experiential education looks like.
“Over the past year or two, I’ve started saying yes to a lot of stuff and really pushing myself to get involved,” he said. “And now I’m at a point where I’m in different areas on campus [with] all the stuff that I’ve had the opportunity to get involved with.”

He’s the vice president of the American Marketing Association (AMA) club. He’s a student employee with Business Career Success (BCS), where he serves as a team lead on the “Hey U” podcast. He’s part of the Goff Strategic Leadership Center, taking part in yet more case competitions and other programming. And he’s doing some work with the Eccles Student Alumni Board.

This is in addition to his non-school activities, which include serving as a youth mentor at his church, going hiking with family and thrifting with friends, and maintaining a “toxic relationship” with a fantasy football league.

As for his Eccles School activities, Diego concedes he initially cast a wide net with a secondary motivation of padding his résumé. But very early on, he lost himself in the enjoyment of his ventures to such a degree that he forgot he was trying to impress potential future employers.

“It stopped being about the experience for my résumé; it has started being more about the experience for me and what I was getting out of it,” he said. “… I’m in a safe place where I can make mistakes now and just grow as a person.”

That growth also stems from the personal interactions he has in his extracurricular pursuits.

He plucked up the courage to pick the brain of a chief marketing officer who appeared on the “Hey U” podcast. His interactions with a supervisor during an internship with PBS Utah gave him valuable insights into professional work standards. And his Goff “Trailblazers” project — assisting the nonprofit RISE Culinary Institute’s mission of giving refugees and immigrants the training to pursue careers in the food industry — has provided a needed human component to the marketing work he’s doing.

Diego is no longer longing for meaningful connections in his college experience. He’s got plenty going on.

Now, he’s just hoping his example can perhaps provide a similar epiphany for anyone else looking for ways to amplify their own experience.

“I just want to encourage students to get involved,” Diego said. “Use all we have here on campus.”