Beta Gamma Sigma: the place in which the opportunities of the future are built.
Manuela Manzano, Juan David Gutierrez Osorio, & Laura Tangarife Marin
BGS Members
Icesi University
Beta Gamma Sigma is the opportunity no one wants to miss. Since we entered the business school at Icesi University, BGS has become the goal that every student wants to achieve, not only because it recognizes the top 10% of business students, but also because each member of the Icesi's chapter has extraordinary faculties to face the professional world. In addition, for many students, BGS Icesi is the place where students develop and improve skills in communication, leadership and ethics. In fact, in many cases, BGS is the gateway for members who want to have contact for the first time with small and large companies as well as students from local, national and international universities. It is for all the above that some members of BGS Icesi decided to share with us their wonderful experience within the chapter.
Manuela Manzano Mora, undergraduate student in a dual-degree of Finance and Industrial Engineering says, “I was motivated to join Beta Gamma Sigma during the pandemic because I saw how driven the members were to make sure they thrived during the hard times and I wanted to learn from them, understand them and succeed just like them. However, it was not easy, since by joining in the middle of the pandemic, I couldn’t meet my members face to face or attend any international events because they were canceled. Luckily, my chapter’s members made sure the pandemic wasn’t an obstacle for us. Together, we started generating strategies to strengthen our relationships and make sure every member understood that they were in a family who had their back when they needed it.
We started establishing contact with various chapters and by February 2021, we had created a wonderful collaboration with five more chapters around the world (Florida, Arlington, Turkey, India, Malaysia and Colombia) to celebrate Founders Week. Different conferences were held for us to learn new leadership, sustainability and business strategies from each other and after they were done, we would stay to talk and get to know
the members from other countries. Due to the huge success of that week, we went on to have a “Blind Date” dynamic where we met other BGS members from Chicago, Texas, Malaysia, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland in one session. To this day, I still stay in contact with these members and they help meapproach their new collegiate chapter presidents to keep having meet-and-greets. The advantages of being part of Beta Gamma Sigma is that it provides you with a lifetime membership that allows you to keep establishing contacts through your career. This helps you grow as a professional by learning from them, while also leaving you with great friends around the world that will be there to cheer you on and lend you a hand whenever you need”.
Furthermore, Juan David Gutierrez Osorio, Finance Vice President of the BGS chapter Icesi and undergraduate student in a dual-degree of Economics and Industrial Engineering tells us that “Before being a member of Beta Gamma Sigma Icesi, I had little knowledge of them or the activities they did. It wasn't until I was motivated to participate in their most eminent event that I could tell how valuable they were as an organization. This event was LIFS, a national competition aimed at solving demanding challenges in some Colombian companies. My team and I proudly ranked first, and since then, I knew I wanted to be part of this organization that is highly committed to the entrepreneurial and economic world.
I cannot describe the excitement I felt when I received the email notification stating, "It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been invited to Beta Gamma Sigma." I didn't doubt for a single second to accept. Now, I realize that my emotion was fully justified because being part of BGS Icesi has allowed me to grow not only academically, but personally in such a way that wouldn't be otherwise possible.
Each and every member has taught me worthy lessons. They have taught me to be a better person and commit to the development and welfare of our community. For instance, we participate in blood donation campaigns allied with one of the most important hospitals in our region, which has made me realize how satisfying it is to help others. Also, we highly engage with local companies, which has allowed us to set up enriching activities amongst visits and collaborations that have helped me learn much more about my field of economics.
I thank this family for giving me such extraordinary experiences, and I am willing to keep working in favor of our growth and development as a chapter.”
Lastly, Laura Tangarife Marín, current president of the BGS chapter Icesi and undergraduate student in a dual-degree of Economics and Political Science comments that, “From the moment you enter the business school at Icesi University, Beta Gamma Sigma becomes every student's aspiration. When I decided to apply to the Icesi’s Beta Gamma Sigma chapter, I knew I was making an incredible decision, but I did not imagine how much this would actually mean to my personal and professional development. To give back to our community, I solved business cases for the first time for small and medium-sized businesses in our region. I also had the tremendous opportunity of leading the logistics of one of the greatest business challenges in the country, where some of the best universities and biggest Colombian companies participated. Within BGS Icesi I applied
all the tools that my business school has provided me throughout these years and that is why I now feel fully capable of contributing greatly to the work field.
Beta Gamma Sigma has not only taught me how to work in a team, create, innovate and lead but it has also shown me that I can achieve my dreams if I am surrounded by the right people. The right people are the Beta Gamma Sigma members that have believed in their dreams by creating their own businesses, giving back to their community, encouraging excellence, and creating strong ties of support for each other. I will always be proud of being a BGS member.”
Manuela, Juan, and Laura are proud members of the BGS chapter at Icesi University. Icesi University is one of the top universities in Colombia, located in Cali, the salsa capital of the world. It is a university noted for the great professional and personal value it provides to its students. Its School of Business and Economics is accredited by AACSB and it currently is the only Beta Gamma Sigma chapter in Colombia. Icesi is recognized as one of the most important and renowned universities in Colombia due to its rigorous academic standards and its wide and diverse range of undergraduate and graduate programs.