Habie Timbo
Activities
Multicultural Business Students Association
Iowa Edge Peer Leader
Black Student Union, financial officer
Student Government
Recipient of the Marvin Pomerantz Leadership Award
Area
Business (minor), International Studies (major)
Habie Timbo is proud of her involvement in the student organization where the motto is, where standing out means fitting in. The Multicultural Business Student Association (MBSA) is housed in the John Pappajohn Business Building, the home of the Tippie College of Business, and Habie is MBSA president. Since she was named president, the organization has established a constitution, maintained a regular meeting schedule and tripled its membership.
"This leadership experience has taught me that you have to be prepared for anything," she explains. "Being a leader means being patient because sometimes things don't happen as quickly as you want. Everything has a process and to get the results you want, you just have to work through it."
One important objective of MBSA is student professional development. "We've had a strong focus on resume writing. We also have professional speakers visit us on campus and share their experiences and insight. We also take professional trips and tour facilities. These things help us get prepared for life after college," she says.
MBSA is also committed to the importance of cultural awareness.
"The University of Iowa campus is great because it offers many cultural events and there are many cultural organizations working hard. The MBSA is trying to fuse with other groups because we're all working toward many of the same things."
Besides taking part in campuswide efforts, the group embraces cultural awareness regularly at the meetings. For example, one student with Italian heritage shared insight on the breadth of Italian foods while another member from China gave a presentation on the Chinese tea ceremony.
"Everyone is welcome and we love to meet new people. That's what MBSA is all about."
Discovering a world of cultures on the University of Iowa campus. That's The Power of I.
