Zauresh Kapisheva, a finance and marketing double major, has discovered new friends, new experiences, new clubs—a home away from home in her first semester at Rutgers University–Camden.
It’s quite far from Kapisheva’s native home in Kazakhstan, the ninth-largest country in the world, nestled in central Asia more than 6,000 miles away from southern New Jersey.
A School of Business–Camden student and polyglot (she speaks Kazakh, Russian, and English), Kapisheva has launched her higher education abroad, already becoming actively involved in university life.
Kapisheva hails from Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city and a hub of finance and culture—both of which have influenced the first-year student’s career pursuits. She attended one of Almaty’s two branches of the Nazarbayev Intellectual School while independently pursuing a course in social media marketing. She landed a role coordinating social media for a local restaurant. Her creative work helped get the restaurant more business with visitors, and the experiential learning opportunity convinced the high school student that she could excel in business.
Kapisheva had intended to study abroad in South Korea post-graduation, even preparing for the future journey by learning the basics of the Korean language. But in her junior year, she was selected for a Model UN Conference at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. The trip inspired her to change her international destination.
“I just felt a sense of belonging, like I want to be here in America,” Kapisheva said. “That's where I saw myself just enjoying my college life.”
She chose Rutgers University–Camden for its business school and its close-knit environment a train ride away from Philadelphia. “I'm getting the best of both worlds, and I really like it that way,” said Kapisheva, who commutes from Center City. “I'm really enjoying myself.”
Kapisheva arrived on campus this past summer for the first time as part of the incoming class of 2029. She participated in the Summer Bridge program, a weeklong series of activities designed to guide first-year students into university life. “It just gives you a sense of college a little bit earlier,” she said. “I also made friends from day one, and ever since, they've been my very good friends, and I'm very happy to have them.”
The first-year student is part of the Honors College as well as the Business School’s Honors program, which has further enriched her school experience through personal and professional development opportunities. Just this semester, she attended corporate visits to Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg in New York City and competed in the Alpha Seekers Invitational finance competition at Pace University, where her team placed in the top five.
The double major joined the Student Finance Association and the Rutgers Women of Business Alliance and sees herself stepping into leadership positions in those organizations later in her academic career. And, though it’s several years away, Kapisheva is already considering a future working in certified financial planning, asset management, or wealth management. “I recently accepted an internship offer at a financial planning and wealth management firm, and I’m really looking forward to learning a lot and starting early in the field,” she said.
While she said there are certainly higher education opportunities in her home country, Kapisheva felt compelled to study in America and knew instinctively that she would succeed. She encourages students who also wish to pursue an international education to take that significant step in their lives.
“If you know that it is something that you need to do to grow, then just do it, but do your research beforehand,” Kapisheva said. “Don't let others discourage you from pursuing your dreams.”
