CELOP Alumni: Where are They Now? Yasser Al-Salman, Iraq & Zhao (Frank) Huang, China

in Highlight
January 9th, 2018

CELOP Alumni Yasser Al-Salman, left, and Zhao (Frank) Huang, center, sit down for a brief interview.

CELOP alumni Yasser Al-Salman of Iraq and Zhao (Frank) Huang of China were part of a tight-knit group of Pre-MBA students at CELOP in Summer 2017. “This is our original family in the U.S. Our class had a very close bond—like a family,” Yasser said, describing the Pre-MBA program.

The Pre-MBA program, which runs every summer at CELOP, is designed to prepare students for the rigors of a graduate business school environment. The program is open to those entering an MBA or graduate program, as well as business professionals who plan to apply to an MBA program in the future.

Prior to CELOP, Frank earned his undergraduate degree in International Economy and Trade and went on to become a Project Manager at one of China’s largest companies. He traveled all over the globe for different projects, but ultimately decided to continue his education with an MBA at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. He enrolled at CELOP the summer prior to the start of his program. “The basic ideas of what we learned from CELOP are very helpful. All my classmates said that if they didn’t do CELOP, they’d be worse off. Learning more, in particular, about case studies was the most helpful thing I learned. Participation is now 40% of my grade in business school. So CELOP helped me learn how to prepare my cases prior to class,” Frank shared.

Frank’s classmate Yasser decided to come to CELOP after earning his undergraduate degree from a British university and working for several years in his home country on projects with power plants. “I decided to come to CELOP for the teachers—they were so useful for me. They helped me increase my knowledge about MBA and enhance my English,” Yasser said. Currently, Yasser is preparing to take the GMAT and apply for MBA programs in the U.S.

Yasser and Frank returned to CELOP for a visit this Fall.

Both Yasser and Frank credit two of their CELOP teachers, Imelda Stoffregen and John Kopec, for helping them get to where they want to be. “We love our teachers. They improved our skills, both with English and in life. Our class with John, we learned a lot about American culture. While with Imelda, she helped to push us to study hard,” Yasser shared.

Yasser and Frank with their CELOP teachers, Imelda and John.

When asked what they would tell someone who is thinking about applying for the Pre-MBA program at CELOP, Frank said, “MBA students who are coming to the U.S. to study, it’s a really good program. It gives you the chance to study all your skills before your program. You don’t have a lot of time to study those skills in grad school. It’s a good transition. And the friendship. I made many friends at CELOP in my class. I built a network.”