Name: Ella Cooper
Major: International Business Minor: Spanish
Graduation Date: May 2025
Interview Transcript:
Ella: My name is Ella Cooper, and I grew up in a small town in South Carolina of only 6,000 people. And I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. My great-great-grandfather started a car dealership in 1936, and I grew up working there and at a small boutique in the town that my aunt started. So business has always been in my blood, and I've always known that I wanted to study it.
Question: What made you choose Appalachian and major in International Business?
Ella: To be completely honest, I chose Appalachian because I like to snowboard and my dad had come here for his undergrad and he loved it and got to snowboard and ski all the time so I followed in his steps and I chose international business so that I could do the Spanish minor because that's always been a goal of mine is to be fluent in another language and Spanish just makes the most sense for me so hence the international business in Spanish.
Question: What international opportunities have you been able to experience during your time at Appalachian?
Ella: While at Appalachian, I've had some amazing opportunities for global and civic engagement. I was honored to be a 2023 Holland Fellow and traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia with Jesse Pipes and a cohort of students, and that was amazing. I've never been to that part of the world before, and it's just really interesting to see the different cultures and how different businesses interact in different countries. And I also got the opportunity to study abroad for the spring semester of 2024 in Granada, Spain, and that was an absolutely life-changing experience. I finally reached Spanish fluency and got to take classes in Spanish and live with an Andalusian family, and I absolutely loved it. I think it's been the highlight of my college experience so far.
Question: What lessons or experiences stood out to you during your time at Appalachian or while studying abroad?
Ella: I think the biggest lesson that I learned from studying abroad was that nobody's going to really do anything for you. You're on your own. And that was the first time in my life that I've had to navigate an entirely new world, an entirely new situation by myself, in a language that's not my native tongue. And I think that really pushed me to grow as a person and to develop confidence in myself and my decision-making skills, which were definitely lacking before I got to Appalachian State. So yeah, I would definitely say that decision-making skills and confidence in my own self and my own abilities are the biggest skills that I've gained through my global and civic engagement here.
Question: What advice would you give students who are interested in pursuing an International Business major here at Appalachian?
Ella: As soon as you can get connected with the faculty and the professors here. Everyone's so awesome, and I made the mistake of not going to office hours, not connecting with professors for my first two years that I was here. I just was kind of a bystander in class, and I regret that so much. So, if there's one piece of advice that I can give to people who are in Ivy or just in the College of Business in general is to reach out and make yourself known to these people. There are amazing professors and faculty here who have done incredible things, and they're so interesting to talk to. Go grab a coffee with them, you know, ask them their advice. It's one of the best resources, and they're so interesting to talk to. Go grab a coffee with them, you know, ask them their advice. It's one of the best resources that you can tap into.