Savindri shines at Augustana College
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 impressive 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.
More 90% of Augustana’s business administration majors complete internships in their field of study so they are well- prepared to enter a competitive job market after graduation. Thanks to the guidance of the Careers, Opportunities, Research and Exploration ( CORE) offices, Ms. Jayawardana is one of 98% of Augustana graduates who are employed, in a professional internship or service position, or pursuing an advanced degree within a year of graduation.
Outside the classroom Augustana College offers more than 150 student groups, allowing students to customize their campus involvement and gain valuable leadership experience. Augustana has four clubs specifically geared toward business majors: Beta Upsilon Sigma ( Business Club), Investor’s Club, Advertising D eve l o p e r s and the Augustana Accounting Association.
Ms. Jayawardana was active both in the classroom and as a leader in the activities on campus. From her first year on campus, she took advantage of her role in the Office of International Student Life to make Augustana her home away from home.
She not only introduced the community to the Holi celebration of colours and Diwali festival of light, but also helped develop the International Street Fest to celebrate Augustana’s diverse student body. These events have become campus traditions and will continue to be celebrated for years to come. Ms. Jayawardana was also a member of Augustana’s Jenny Lind Vocal Ensemble, Student Government Association, and Student Advisory Council to the President.
Ms. Jayawardana’s advisors commend her academic success and leadership in the classroom. Mamata Marmé, professor of business administration, had the pleasure of advising Ms. Jayawardana and describes her as a creative and enthusiastic leader. Ms. Jayawardana credits her Augustana mentors such as professor Marmé and Danny Kim, assistant director of the Office of International Student Life, for helping her realize her full potential. She was surprised by how much she bonded with the Augustana community and how quickly the campus began to feel like home.
One of the reasons that Ms. Jayawardana chose Augustana was a generous financial aid package. Augustana College offers scholarships for international students up to $ 25,000/ year. In 2016, Forbes listed Augustana as one of the Top 100 Colleges f or Re t u r n on Investment.
The second reason she chose Augustana was the close proximity to Chicago, Illinois, which is just 165 miles East of Rock Island. Rock Island is part of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area of 400,000. Currently, Ms. Jayawardana lives in Chicago and works as an insurance specialist for Snapsheet, Inc. She is another successful graduate in a long history of great alumni of Augustana College.
Savi Jayawardana was seriously considering heading to Malaysia for higher studies when she met the Scholarships for USA team visiting British School Colombo promoting US higher education. It wasn’t that Savi believed Malaysian college education was superior but her main concern was affordability. How could US education be more affordable than Malaysian, was her quarry. She was amazed to see the offers SUSA was able to attract from Montana to Illinois and from Pennsylvania to North Dakota overnight, each with generous scholarships, credit transfers based on A- L results, parttime work and summer internships. After spending 4 years in Rock Island at Augustana College Savi relates an authentic account of life at a Midwestern private liberal arts school, its quality education, quality of life, endless opportunities and its grant setting up graduating seniors. SUSA, passionately committed to promote affordable US education to Sri Lankan middle class is celebrating the achievements of another one of its candidates.