The Future is Bright for UNK Senior Eder Garcia Thanks to the Supply Chain Management Program

Eder Garcia, who is majoring in Supply Chain Management, credits his scholarships, a recent summer internship, and involvement with both campus organizations and events for his positive experience at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. As a senior who will be returning for a fifth year before graduating, Garcia is grateful for the opportunities he has had as a Loper and looks forward to everything available to him this upcoming year and beyond.

In addition to the athletic scholarship he received for his participation in track and cross country, Garcia is the recipient of Cabela’s UNK Scholarship and the Henning Family B & T Scholarship. Cabela’s UNK Scholarship is awarded to students who graduated from high school in Nebraska while the Henning Family B&T Scholarship is given to students who are part of the Supply Chain Management program. All three scholarships have made it possible for Garcia to be “able to go to college.” He shares how grateful he is for the generosity of those who made these scholarships possible for UNK students. Garcia appreciates the Champions of SCM Excellence which was created to provide opportunities for local companies to support students who might one day become their employees. 

Like many UNK students, Garcia recognizes the value of internships. He knows they reinforce what he is learning in his classes while also opening doors for his future career. He spent this past summer in Grand Island working for GIX, a third-party logistics company, where he “really enjoyed learning.” He describes his work there as “an amazing experience,” explaining that “GIX is like a big family.” In addition to all he learned, he appreciated the “great work environment” that included employees who were hired while they were still interns.

Garcia understands that Supply Chain Management is unique thanks to its far-reaching effects across the industry. Next summer, he plans to take advantage of another internship opportunity to help him broaden his perspective of all his major has to offer. He shares that, while working for GIX, he was able to experience the logistics side of Supply Chain Management. The next time he works as an intern he would like to try purchasing, planning, or operations. He likes the fact that, with this major, he doesn’t “have to choose just one” career path. After graduation, he knows there will be a wide array of employment possibilities thanks to the breadth of his chosen profession.

As part of the Supply Chain Leadership Team at UNK’s College of Business and Technology, Garcia shares how students like him are able to “have a voice” which he describes as “really cool.” Dr. Greg Benson, the team’s advisor, encourages Supply Chain Management students by allowing them to help make decisions about speakers, events, and socials where companies send representatives to campus. 

Garcia also credits his experiences with UNK’s College of Business and Technology Career Fairs with his ability to be “able to communicate well.” Reflecting on his life before college and comparing it to the person he is now, he appreciates how he has “been able to know how to communicate” with representatives from companies he hopes to one day have the chance to work for.

When asked about his plans after graduation, Garcia quickly responds that he plans to stay close by. Describing himself as a “big family person,” he is looking forward to staying in Nebraska where he knows there are “so many things (he) can do” with his major. He knows he has been given an excellent opportunity thanks to the hard work of professors like Dr. Greg Benson. Every chance he gets he tries to “plant a seed” in other students about the “great opportunity” to be found as part of the Supply Chain Management program at UNK. Not wanting to keep a good thing to himself, he describes himself as someone who wants to “help the Supply Chain program grow” to positively influence the workforce of Nebraska.

Eder Garcia shares how his major is unique in that “if you don’t like it, there’s always something else in Supply Chain.” He looks forward to finding his career path in Nebraska thanks to the positive experiences and influences he has enjoyed through the College of Business and Technology at UNK.