All paths lead to business at this summer camp

Rutgers Business School’s “camp” was one of the experiences California high school student Noah Hildebrand decided to include in his summer plans this year. 

After learning about the program from his college counselor, Hildebrand told two of his buddies from Piedmont High School, and all three headed east to spend a week on the Livingston Campus, learning about supply chain management, accounting and entrepreneurship.

“I’m interested in business, and I’ve never been on the East Coast,” said Hildebrand who also wanted his summer to include a college-like experience.

Hildebrand and his pals, Drew Devries and Luca LaForte, are among 135 high school students who will attend one of three camp sessions this summer that will introduce them to business and give them a taste of college life.

As the stature of Rutgers Business School grows and the reputation of the 12-year-old camp spreads, an increasing number of students from across the country, including Texas, Massachusetts and Rhode Island – and from around the world – are signing up. Vivaan Shetty, a rising first year high school student from Mumbai, traveled the farthest this summer.

Shetty spent several weeks with relatives in New Jersey before heading to the business camp with his cousin. “I wanted to learn more about business and how it works,” Shetty said. By day five, Shetty decided that learning how to make an “elevator pitch” was among the highlights of his camp experience.

Ronald Richter, a finance professor at the business school who started the program in 2014, said there are a few reasons for the camp’s success. “It’s experiential not academic, he said. “We teach soft skills, and we foster a culture of community.” Campers form friendships that often endure for years after the summer program, he said. The makeup of the campers is roughly two-thirds male and one-third female.

The days at camp are intense – typically packed with talks and activities from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Many are staying on a college campus for the first time. “I’ve never met so many people from other places,” said Nicholas Smith who lives in Anaheim, Calif., and hopes to attend college on the East Coast like his older brother.

They get introductions into a variety of business areas – finance, supply chain and real estate, among them. They visit companies like Johnson & Johnson and meet as many as 100 people, college students, executives and working professionals, many of them Rutgers Business School alumni who volunteer to mentor the campers.

During the week, they learn how to shake hands and how to network and this year, the campers got help setting up LinkedIn accounts. “They learn a lot of soft skills,” Richter said. “The parents love that because the students aren’t getting it anywhere else.” 

Frank Giarratano, an instructor at Rutgers Business School who will take over Richter's role as director of the summer program, said for high school students, the camp provides an early opportunity to discover the breadth of careers and opportunities that a business education can offer.

"They get a rare chance to explore business and develop a sense of where their interests and passions lie as they work in teams to tackle real-world business challenges," Giarratano said. "While doing this, they are mentored by industry professionals and gain insight to the many career paths available to them."

Devries said he learned much more about real estate from two talks he heard in camp sessions, and LaForte described the introduction to marketing as “pretty cool.”

“I always thought of business as being about finance,” LaForte said, “but business has a lot of aspects. It’s not just sitting at a desk all day.”

During their first day on campus, the campers were assigned to teams. And throughout the week, they worked with teammates and mentors to develop and refine business plans around an idea they had agreed on as a new product. The experience was eye-opening.

“Creating the product is just one part of it,” LaForte said as his friends nodded in agreement.

This year, 20 students were selected, based on economic need, to receive full scholarships paid for through a $50,000 donation from the Kislak Foundation.