Game, Set, Degree: Aaron Osmond, MBA

There were two things upcoming MBA graduate Aaron Osmond was looking for in a graduate program: a strong tennis team and the flexibility to balance athletics with academics.

He found both at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Originally from Bury, England, Osmond came to the U.S. in 2019 to study aerospace engineering and play collegiate tennis at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. But after two years (and a global pandemic) the tennis program was cut.

“I stayed there for one more year,” Osmond said. “But I realized that I kind of came here to play tennis.”

He transferred to Lake Superior State University to continue playing tennis while pursuing a mechanical engineering degree. Thanks to NCAA COVID-19 eligibility extensions, Osmond had two more years of collegiate tennis ahead of him.

That’s when he reached out to UNK Head Coach Scott Shafer and discovered that UNK was the perfect match: both on the court and in the classroom.

“I was looking to take a step up from where I was, and this is a huge step up,” he said. “The athletic facilities that we have here are something that you don't really see at many other D2 schools. We have very generous donors and we're very appreciative of that because it allows us to play at the highest level and compete for national championships.”

Osmond joined UNK’s MBA program in August 2023 and quickly made an impact as a team leader. As the oldest player on the roster, he embraced his role mentoring younger, mostly international teammates.

“I didn’t know a lot in 2019,” he said about coming to the states as an international student. “I wanted them to have someone they could learn from – someone to guide them.”

On the court, Osmond and his doubles partner Tom van den Dungen from the Netherlands came within reach of earning All-American honors.

His success wasn’t limited to the tennis court. Osmond made his mark across campus as a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, a graduate assistant for the College of Business and Technology, and a finalist in the 2024 Big Idea competition, where he placed second.

“One of the things that always comes up with employers for me is that I have all of this experience outside of the classroom,” he said. “All of these different organizations have helped me be able to build that leadership. And really, the MBA is all about learning to be a successful leader.”

While working as a graduate assistant at UNK’s Industrial Distribution Career Fair, Osmond held a conversation with the employees at the CirrusTech booth, which turned into them offering him a summer internship.

“It was a little bit unexpected because I was just supposed to be there to help with the event,” he said.

That simple, unexpected conversation not only led to a summer internship with the company but has since turned into an offer to participate in Optional Practical Training (OPS), a federal program that allows international students to gain professional experience in the U.S. after graduation.

Just like his internship, Osmond’s time at UNK turned out to be more than he expected.

He came looking for two things: a tennis team and the flexibility to earn a degree while continuing to compete. What he found was so much more—real-world experience, leadership growth, and a community that supported him every step of the way.

“I left what I knew to go somewhere new, because I knew that there’d be people here to help me through it,” he said. “And there’s been countless people, I couldn’t count on any of my hands.”