Savi Shines at Augustana
Savindri (Savi) Jayawardana of Colombo took a leap of faith to attend Augustana College and four years later, she is so glad she did. In May 2017, she graduated with a double major in economics and business finance, a minor in German, and a résumé packed with impressive extracurricular experiences.
Augustana is a selective, private liberal arts and sciences college located along the Mississippi River in Rock Island, Illinois. Small class sizes and a student- faculty ratio of 12:1 provide the ideal environment for students to receive personal attention and foster academic success. Some of the most popular of the 90+ majors, minors and academic programs offered are accounting, biology, business administration and engineering physics.
Augustana’s full- time director of business internships works closely with students to place them in their ideal internships, both national and international. Ninety percent of business students complete internships. Recent placements include AT& T Global Accounts, Caterpillar, Deere & Company, Edward Jones, WGN- TV, Kraft Foods and the American Red Cross. Students with majors in business, accounting and finance all work with this director for internship and job placement assistance.
During her third year at Augustana Ms. Jayawardana had the opportunity to spend eight weeks interning in Sydney, Australia. This fantastic internship opportunity provided her with an internationally impre s s ive résumé. Savindri Jayawardana worked with Candle Bark Creations, a homemade greeting card company. At Candle Bark she was responsible for the promotion of the business through social media. Through this internship, Ms. Jayawardana learned the importance of communication in the workplace. Personally, she found that this experience increased her sense of independence as she became much more self- sufficient through her travels.
Each student at Augustana has access to a funding program called Augie Choice. The school provides up to $2,000 to each student to fund a hands- on learning experience: international study, research with a professor, or an internship. The funding helps make all these possible. More than 88% of Augustana students conduct research with a professor and/ or study abroad. Ms. Jayawardana used her Augie Choice $2,000 towards her internship in Australia.