School: Fox School of Business

Major: Finance

Home town: Bensalem, Pa. (Bucks Co.)

Why I chose Temple: "My family wanted me to stay close, and Temple is something that my whole family has been attending for years. My cousins and my brother, who are very successful individuals, also went to Temple."

Transformative experience: "The Be Your Own Boss Bowl, Temple's business plan competition for entrepreneurs. That's where the idea was born for Verde Styles, an apparel company that plants a tree for every T-shirt sold. We didn't even make the top 10; we were too confident. But the 2009 Be Your Own Boss Bowl motivated us to build an even better business model and actually win a competition like the $25,000 Pepsi Refresh Project grant. As a result, I put together a great team and everything got better over time. I've met a lot of successful individuals who have graduated from Temple or who are a part of the university — people who are not only successful entrepreneurs, but very good role models. The Temple network is pretty ridiculous."