Student athlete hones financial acumen through Fletcher School program
Trevor Hillier, A26, began his time at Tufts as a linebacker for the Jumbos. As he navigated a busy schedule as a student athlete, explored rigorous course work in the liberal arts model of Tufts University, and rose to his fraternity’s executive board, he found his way to Tufts’ premiere Graduate Certificate in Business at The Fletcher School.
This new opportunity allows juniors and seniors at Tufts to pursue a Graduate Certificate in Business at The Fletcher School while completing their undergraduate degree at no extra cost.
A Tufts Path to Global Business
As a first-year student at Tufts, Hillier wasn’t sure what he wanted to study. He explored different courses in liberal arts, and his time in Principles of Economics piqued his interest.
“I loved that there was an international twist to it, and that was my stepping stone to the economics degree,” Hillier said.
After being elected as president of his fraternity, he cross-enrolled in Alnoor Ebrahim’s leadership course in the hopes that it aligned with his values and how he wanted to learn—in his coursework, on the field, and in his new position with his fraternity.
This spurred him on to continue taking courses at Fletcher, including Strategic Management, Financial Statement Management, and Managing Operations and Supply Chains in Global Companies, and ultimately inspired him to pursue the certificate.
“What I appreciated most about the program was that it was more conceptual and theoretical,” he said. “I could easily apply what I learned to a lot of different settings across different borders, problems, and constructs. That’s true of all the courses that I've taken at Fletcher.”
Balancing Work and Gameplay
How does a student athlete balance their coursework, training, practices, games, and find time to have a social life, let alone complete graduate-level coursework? For Hillier, the positive elements of competition motivated him on the field and off.
“Being a student athlete at Tufts was a very positive experience for me, but also a challenging one,” he said. “It's structured, and it conflicts with things you might want to do, or classes you might want to take, and it's in a competitive environment that at times may feel stress-inducing. But it's so fruitful.”
Hillier leaned into all of the potential pressures and stresses and used them to shape his college experience. Twenty football games, a rigorous training schedule, coursework, and becoming president of his fraternity all taught him how much work is needed to be a leader.
“I think everyone at Tufts who is a student athlete reflects on their experience and is so grateful for the values and ethics that they have learned,” Hillier said. “It's such a unique ecosystem because your peers are so bright and motivated, but they're also very athletic. It puts a lot of competitive pressure on each individual in a larger team setting. People are uplifting each other, but they're also pushing each other. That translates pretty directly to my experience at Fletcher.”
The Business Certificate Opens Doors
For students like Hillier, the Graduate Certificate in Business broadens some of the vocational hopes students may have when they head into the world.
Hillier feels he’ll have a head start as he pursues a career in business. Reflecting upon the program’s impact, he pointed to Ebrahim’s course on leadership.
“Professor Ebrahim gave me thoughtful criticism and helped me construct my responses,” Hillier said. “At the end of the semester, I felt like I had a great foundation for how to communicate my thoughts and how to serve as a leader in different environments. That's something that I will take with me for the rest of my life.”
Hillier finished the program with Corporate Finance and Global Private Equity. He learned about everything from raising capital to sourcing and structuring investments. The more conceptual and theoretical premises of a traditional undergraduate major in economics became exponentially more technical in conjunction with the Graduate Certificate in Business.
“It was brilliant, and it took my understanding of finance to a level that I never anticipated as a student at Tufts,” said Hillier. “I never would have gotten there if I hadn't been daring enough to take courses at Fletcher.”
Life After Graduation
As Hillier plots his next step, he’s exploring opportunities between working in Boston at a boutique real estate investment firm or pursuing a move to New York City.
“I spent a lot of time focused on my academic studies at Tufts,” he said. “Now that I’ve completed my degree, I have a better sense of how professional dynamics work. I've been able to network, introduce myself to different people and different functions within companies, and have a more well-rounded perspective on the professional landscape.”
Hillier hopes that more Tufts students will pursue the certificate. Undergraduate students need to complete four core courses in order to receive the graduate-level certification.
“The certificate allows you to take free courses at Fletcher,” Hillier said. “That's something that students shouldn't take for granted. As an undergraduate, you're sitting with students who have a wealth of professional experience. They’ve been out in the real world and come from all over the globe, and now you're engaged in conversation with them on a daily basis.”
Read more about the Graduate Certificate in Business at The Fletcher School.