Chance Meeting With U of A Entrepreneurship Office Leads to Two Internships for Upperclassman

One student's goal to get more involved outside of academics paid off with two internships after getting connected with the Office of Entrepreneurship & Innovation (OEI).

Jack Gamble, a junior finance and real estate student, planned to be more active outside the classroom during the fall semester. He just didn't know where he wanted to focus.

Then came a chance meeting with José E. Cartagena Ortiz, OEI's instructional designer of training and workshops. Ortiz was handing out posters for OEI's artificial intelligence workshops at the Arkansas Union. Gamble was informed of an upcoming workshop on how to build an AI business in an hour, and he decided to attend.

"It was just a cool event that I saw on the side of the wall, and (I) showed up, met a lot of great people," Gamble said.

He added that he kept going back to OEI events, and "each time I went back, I felt like I just made a new connection that I couldn't have made elsewhere."

Thanks to that introduction from Ortiz, Gamble was able to get connected with Chicago Title, which led to a winter real estate internship. Then he followed that with a summer internship at CBRE focused on commercial real estate. Now Gamble is working on developing independent ventures centered around revenue-generating AI tools.

"I feel so proud of Jack's journey. This is a reminder of the importance of the work we do at OEI and the university," Ortiz said.

"Handing out a flyer and having a quick conversation can change a person's life in an instant, and we should not underestimate the power of human connection."

A unit of the Sam M. Walton College of Business, OEI provides innovation and entrepreneurship experiences for students across all disciplines.

Through the Brewer Family Entrepreneurship Hub, McMillon Innovation Studio, Startup Village at One East Central in Fayetteville and the Collaborative in Bentonville, OEI provides programs and resources — including free workshops, social and corporate innovation design teams, venture internships, competitions and startup coaching.

Gamble praised OEI for its "welcoming environment" and said he's trying to pay it forward by telling underclassmen about the benefit of getting involved with activities outside of the classroom.

"I tell all the freshmen that I see in those meetings: keep doing what you're doing and to just keep coming," Gamble said. "You seriously don't know who's gonna be there that could lead to an opportunity that's gonna open a lot of doors for you down the road."

"Nothing bad is going to come from just getting involved and going to those meetings because you're again surrounded by great people, surrounded by out-of-the-box thinkers."

About the U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a division of the Sam M. Walton College of Business, creates and curates innovation and entrepreneurship experiences for students across all disciplines. Through the Brewer Family Entrepreneurship Hub, McMillon Innovation Studio, Startup Village, and Greenhouse at the Bentonville Collaborative, the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation provides free workshops and programs — including social and corporate innovation design teams, venture internships, competitions and startup coaching. OEI also offers on-demand support for students who will be innovators within existing organizations and entrepreneurs who start something new.