The new Deer Run Global Fellows Scholarship has announced its inaugural recipients.
Ariana Gonzalez, Ashlee Hall, and Savannah Keifer were the three recipients.
The scholarship establishes funds for Hall County students attending the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia to experience study abroad programs.
The scholarship was created through the generosity of Doug and Kay Ivester.
Doug Ivester (BBA ‘69) presides over Deer Run Investments LLC, and previously served as chairman of the board and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.
“I was born and raised in Hall County — it’s still small, but feels like a big community,” Gonzalez, a double major in risk management and management information systems, said. “I wanted to get out of Hall County for a while for college and experience more, and it’s amazing how the county is helping me. I got to study abroad, and the scholarship was an opportunity to get out and be proud of where I came from.”
How did those three spend their studies abroad?
Gonzalez, whose family is Mexican, attended the one-week Business in Mexico last spring, while Hall went on the spring break Business in Canada. Keifer, whose family is from Germany, participated in Maymaster’s Business in Germany.
“The Deer Run Global Fellows Scholarship was my opportunity to travel abroad. Before this, I had never been outside of the U.S.,” Keifer, a finance major at Terry, said. “It was an experience I might not have been able to go on without the support.”
CANADA
Hall, a double major in real estate and marketing, went to Vancouver. She knew she wanted to study abroad but wanted to take it slow.
Canada checked all the boxes she was looking for in her first solo trip to another country.
“I knew going to Canada for a week would help me bridge the gap to know how to travel by myself and become self-sufficient — just give me a baseline idea of what studying abroad would be like,” Hall, who has since spent the summer at the UGA Terry at Oxford program, said. “I’ve always wanted to go to Vancouver, particularly, so I was super excited. It was cool how modernized it was with very much a city feel.”
A highlight for Hall? Touring Oxford Properties, a sustainable real estate development company.
“They are serious about sustainable practices, and you could see that all around the city,” Hall said. “The property we toured through had an underground area with bike racks set up to incentivize everybody to ride their bikes to work instead of driving. We saw things I would have never thought of — it’s one thing to see something on a video in class, but it’s completely different to see it in real life and ask the people there about it.”
Going to other countries is an important part of studying business, Hall said, because it prepares you for the new and unexpected.
“When you’re a business major, you have to put yourself out there,” she said. “And to have the confidence to put yourself out there, you have to go out of your comfort zone and travel to new places. You have to expect things that make you feel a little uncomfortable, and when you realize it can become normal. You can’t stick to your little bubble.”
MEXICO
Gonzalez was prepared for Mexico from a language standpoint; however, understanding the culture did not prepare her entirely for what she learned about business in the country.
“I’m learning business in America, so how do they differentiate in Mexico? How do they operate?” Gonzalez said. “We went to companies and listened to many speakers — it helped me see all these differences. One of the main things is in Mexico, nepotism is the word — it’s family businesses and families operating those businesses. In America, just because your grandfather is the CEO of a company doesn’t mean you’re going to inherit that. In Mexico, that was different.”
Gonzalez, who expects to graduate next fall, said the entire week proved to be a learning experience.
“It’s important to see how other places operate,” Gonzalez said. “People in the company I’m interning for have the potential to go to other places in the world, and this study away allowed me to see how it works traveling to another country on business. Going to these new places, experiencing the differences, and seeing how other countries and businesses operate is key.”
Gonzalez spent her summer interning at a cybersecurity firm in Alpharetta, a field she wants to go into after graduation. She says she is grateful to the Ivesters for how the scholarship gave her added knowledge heading into her career.
“I grew up in Hall County, and they’re giving me the opportunity to go to other places,” she said. “I have another scholarship from the Ivesters — it’s great what they’re doing. They want students in their community to grow, do great things, and go places and study. They give us so many opportunities.”
GERMANY
Keifer would like to work in the sports industry being a financial advisor for professional athletes.
She always wanted to visit Germany to see where her family came from. Her participation in a study abroad went well with goals German businesses set with their employees.
“A big part of the trip that resonated with me was the shift employers had to experience over just studies,” she said. “In many of our company visits, they explained how they focus on unique experiences you can offer rather than just the degree you hold. Many companies said how impressive it is that we participated in this business sustainability in Germany.”
Keifer graduates in the fall and said her experience abroad helped her as she begins her career.
“It is so important to have a study away because it allows you to truly experience another culture,” she said. “In business, you will be dealing with different people; it helps you understand where another person might be coming from.
“And now, I will have a degree from one of the best business schools and a unique business-forward study abroad experience that I can offer too,” Keifer added.
Applications are now being accepted for the 2025 edition of the Deer Run Global Fellows Scholarship. More information is at: https://www.terry.uga.edu/undergraduate/scholarship-options/deer-run-global-fellows-scholarship/
