Senior incorporates management degree into his dreams

Senior business management major Blake Goldberg does not fear the unknown.

In the fall of his senior year, he purchased a one-way ticket to New Zealand to volunteer for an organization called World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) beginning July 2015 after graduating from Texas A&M University in May. Once there, he will work on a farm for more than four hours a day in exchange for room and board in the hopes of gaining the real-world experience required to join the Peace Corps.

Since joining the Peace Corps was no longer an option immediately after graduation due to strict requirements, Goldberg devised a new plan of action.

“I was devastated and knew I had to make a big decision in life,” he said. “Was I going to float my way into the corporate world, get a well-paying job and forget about my dream, or was I going to swim to my goal of doing the unorthodox and try to do something to better my chances of joining the Peace Corps?”

WWOOF is a network in which the organization facilitates the placement of volunteers on organic farms. The network reaches 99 countries and aims to promote cultural and educational experiences based on trust and non-monetary exchange, helping build a sustainable global community. Goldberg embarked on the project by starting to sell his belongings right away in anticipation of his move to New Zealand. He will spend the months of July and August with his first host family.

“When I heard this I thought it was perfect,” Goldberg said. “I can gain great agricultural experience that will help for the Peace Corps, and it’s just an unknown adventure.”

While his sights were always set on joining the Peace Corps, in 2013 Goldberg rushed his transcript to Texas A&M at the last moment and was accepted to Mays Business School. Growing up, Goldberg was told that what he majored in would not matter five years after he graduated college. Determined to choose a major that did not have an expiration date, he decided on business management.

“Mays Business management is all about leadership,” he said. “I thought in my mind, no matter what I do, no matter what job I have I will always need leadership. I had my sights dead set on that. Just like the Peace Corps, I was determined to graduate with a management degree.”

During his time at Texas A&M, Goldberg continued to lead a life full of adventure by working at Good Bull Pedi Cabs, giving rides around Northgate; studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain; and hitchhiking down I-10 to California his sophomore year, spending the entire summer traveling solo. Though he has always had a sense of wanderlust, he credits Mays Business School for encouraging his passions.

“When I am out in the real world and working on some farm in the middle of New Zealand, or volunteering in the Peace Corps, it is only going to be me out there. That is what Mays Business School prepared me for,” Goldberg said. “They taught me how to be my own leader. I am confident the skills and lessons I have learned from all my professors and classmates at A&M will give me the necessary infrastructure to allow me to succeed in all aspects of my life.”

Once in New Zealand, Goldberg plans to re-apply to the Peace Corps to live out his dreams on his own terms.

“It seems my ADD goals are changing every day, but the main thing is I do not want them to tell me I can’t do it,” he said. “I want to get accepted, then if I don’t want to do it, I will be the one that makes that decision. It’s something that I am just really determined to do.”

ABOUT MAYS BUSINESS SCHOOL

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,900 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.