By: Samantha Ricci, Senior, Marketing and Digital Analytics
Who Is Riley Deam?
Riley Deam is a Senior at Indiana University pursuing degrees in Marketing and Digital & Social Media Business Applications with a minor in Informatics. Riley began her journey at IU in 2017 as a freshman from Carmel, Indiana. A large portion of students at IU are also from Indiana towns like Carmel. These students have a unique choice when they arrive on campus. Riley put this choice plainly: ”You can either remain in your comfort zone and latch onto your Carmel friends for security, or you can expand yourself by finding people most different from who you are while still holding your old friends close.”
Riley chose the latter option in her freshman year, and she could not be more grateful. She explained how she confidently stepped out of her comfort zone, and offered some advice for others looking to expand their horizons as well. First and foremost, she suggests students “lean into opportunities that scare you!” She then went on to discuss the specific opportunities she took advantage of within the marketing department and IU at large that she feels have shaped her character.
Decision to Pursue Marketing
“One of the first opportunities I took advantage of at IU was choosing Marketing as my major,” Riley said. She explained that she made this decision because it was the one field in business that she felt, “required the most intense human understanding and connection.” In other words, you actually have to know who you are speaking to in order to effectively sell them the benefits of a product or service they care most about. She continued, “by being a part of a major that forces you to consider other viewpoints and experiences, your emotional intelligence and understanding of others becomes much more clear.” While Riley has always been an inclusive individual, she feels this focus on thinking outside of who you are within marketing has allowed her to become friends with people who are different from her and the people she has typically hung out with. She says this experience allowed her to learn much more about herself.
I-Core Group Assignment
Riley felt that her second most influential opportunity here at IU was her I-Core case team. For those unaware, I-Core is said to be one of the hardest semesters within Kelley. It is also important to mention that there is a case group report at the end of the semester that you must pass in order to successfully complete I-Core. These randomized group assignments can sometimes make or break your I-Core experience because you are often put into a group of people you have never met before. Riley was placed into a team with students from China. The group had a myriad of cultural differences and language barriers that made it hard for them to make the same progress as other teams in the early stages. However, she soon realized that they actually had an advantage over other groups – their diversity of thought. As the days went on, the team learned how to work around their cultural differences by teaching each other about their own norms. By the middle of the project, they were working like a well-oiled machine, just because they took the time to know and understand each other. Riley said, “I came out of that experience very grateful for the way it began because it taught me about my own perceptions and about the way others perceive me.”
Abroad Experience
The last defining experience Riley mentioned was her semester abroad in Budapest. In the spring semester of her Junior year, Riley took a huge leap of faith and chose to study abroad in Hungary. This was her first time being away from home for so long, and it was an experience that scared her as much as it excited her. Riley commented that her favorite parts of her experience in Budapest were “the people and the history”. Although Riley loved her time in Hungary, she experienced quite a bit of culture shock. However, she remained open minded.
Riley Deam is a great example of a student at IU who has taken advantage of opportunities small and large to diversify herself and her understanding of the world. She is very motivated by finding value in daily activities, and is an action-oriented individual determined to reach her goals. She aspires to work for a company that shares her same values of collaboration and inclusion.
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