Meet Student Anna Buhmann, President of JCU's STAND Club

Anna Buhmann is a graduating senior majoring in International Business with a minor in Psychology. Anna is the President of JCU’s STAND club, an Orientation Leader, and Associate Business and Financial Consultant at JERO International Consulting.

Anna Buhmann

What made you decide to pursue a degree abroad?
I was born in Missouri, however, I have lived in many U.S. states and even lived in Shanghai, China for a few years. It was the experience of living in China that opened me up to the idea of attending a university abroad. I enjoyed going to a school with an international student body and meeting people from all around the world. After I moved back to the USA from China to finish high school, I knew I wanted to live abroad again. So, I researched universities and was drawn to JCU, an American university abroad with many good programs and opportunities.

You’re majoring in International Business with a minor in Psychology. What made you decide to combine these two disciplines?
We live in a global economy, and I am interested in business, so it made sense to major in International Business. I added a minor in Psychology because I genuinely enjoy learning about the subject. Psychology is also helpful in many aspects of business, so I thought it would be an excellent minor to include.

Tell us about your experience being the President of JCU’s STAND club.
I joined STAND during my first semester at JCU. I have always been involved in volunteer work and wanted to continue in Rome. It quickly became one of my favorite things at JCU. The people I met through the club became my community and allowed me to meet people outside of JCU, too. The following year I was elected Secretary and continued until I became President in the Fall of 2022. Although STAND had difficulties staying active during Covid, we showed resilience and continued our mission. Now STAND is active again and working with many of our former partners, including the Italian Red Cross, the Vaccari Institute, Vo.Re.Co, TuttoBlue, the Joel Nafuma Refugee center, and others. We are continuing to fundraise to help some of these centers purchase food, furniture, and other necessary items. We continue participating in projects like creating an outdoor garden space for an Italian Red Cross center that helps children with disabilities.

Tell us about your internship with DayBreakHotels.
I started my internship with DayBreakHotels during the Spring 2022 semester as International Market Manager. People at DayBreakHotels are very welcoming and open to helping their interns grow and learn. I was responsible for finding and contacting hotels to create new partnerships for the DayBreakHotels platform. When this internship ended, I was offered another internship with them as SEO and Content Market Manager. In this position, I took courses in search engine optimization and I was able to apply what I learned. It has been a great experience.

You are an Orientation Leader at JCU. What are the challenges and rewards of this role?
I have been an Orientation Leader since my second year of university. It has been one of my best experiences at JCU. Meeting new students and working with the orientation team is very rewarding. It is always a great group of people who help each other out and have fun while doing it. The challenges have been rewarding because they have allowed me to grow. They taught me to be more flexible and prepared me to deal with anything. Things might go differently than planned, but everything is manageable and will work out in the end.

You’re also Associate Business and Financial Consultant at JERO International Consulting. How did you become involved?
I became involved with the JERO team during the Spring 2022 semester, after meeting them at the student life fair. JERO, or Junior Enterprise of Rome, is a nonprofit organization that is part of a worldwide, student-led network that follows a set of criteria to ensure the reliability of an enterprise’s services. As part of the Business and Finance area, I help with different projects that require assistance with business plans, market research, and more for small start-ups. It is a fantastic team of people and has been a great way to gain experience.