Photo of Daniel McCloskey in cap and gown through the Oregon "O" with his hands to the left of the words "Profile" Daniel McCloskey" in large letters on a yellow background

The Value of Flight School

For Daniel McCloskey ’22, being a part of the Lundquist College’s inaugural Flight School cohort shaped his business school experience in ways he couldn’t have predicted.

Flight School, an exclusive offering of the Lundquist College of Business, is designed to set up first-year and transfer business students for ultimate success in and out of the classroom.

McCloskey mentored first-year students from Oregon, California, Texas, and Alaska and kept a steady roster of six mentees. In the fall of 2021, he was promoted to lead all the program’s mentors.

While in Flight School, students gain a multitude of skills—such as communication, teamwork, and cultural competence—while building community with fellow students and discovering their interests in business related disciplines. Most importantly, students grow their network by connecting with experienced student mentors like McCloskey.

When not working with the recently launched Flight School program, McCloskey also served as vice president of finance in the UO student club chapter of the American Marketing Association. During his time there, he met his own a mentor, Olga Vargas, the chief marketing officer at Vernier—an educational software company based in Portland, Oregon.

“My first two years, I was more focused on school and sports and embracing true college life,” McCloskey said. “But when I came home due to the pandemic, I turned on the jets and concentrated on what I wanted to do post-grad,” he said.

Along with Flight School, McCloskey recommends aligning with an advisor as he did with Kim Rambo-Reinitz.

After graduating in March with a degree in business with concentrations in marketing and finance and a minor in economics, McCloskey interned remotely at PowerSchool, an education tech company, doing marketing analytics.

He now works for AT&T in Sacramento, California, as a vendor management specialist, using financial and management skills learned at the Lundquist College of Business every day to track key performance indicators and vendors.

“A piece of advice I always told my mentees is to reach out to people and network,” McCloskey said. “Once you graduate and start reaching out and networking with people, you no longer are a college student. You turn into someone looking for a job, so people can be reluctant to meet with you.”

He added, “Through being a mentor, I learned how to lead a team, build teamwork, and get people to stay motivated.”

—Kaylee Smith, Class of 2022