Ethan Myers, a UHV alumnus and vice president and commercial lender at Ozana Bank, speaks to UHV College of Business students during the college's Alumni Week. Myers was one of seven alumni who came to speak with students during the weeklong event.

Ethan Myers jumped at the chance to give back to his alma mater when he saw a post on LinkedIn asking for University of Houston-Victoria alumni to sign up to come talk with current business students.

“Alumni Week was an awesome experience, and I can’t wait for another opportunity to interact with students,” Myers said. “I loved sharing my story and being able to offer them advice as they worked toward earning their degrees and taking the next steps in their careers.”

Myers, a vice president and commercial lender at Ozana Bank in San Antonio, was one of seven UHV College of Business alumni who spoke to UHV classes during the business college’s annual Alumni Week from April 7-10. Each alumnus spoke to one or two of nine different business classes about how their education has helped them achieve success in their careers.

Rhiannon Smith

“The college’s Alumni Week event is an opportunity to connect industry to the classroom,” said Rhiannon Smith, assistant dean of administration and student services for the business college. “Many of these alumni were recent students themselves, and by sharing their stories, students may be able to identify with them and even see the potential in their future by learning how others overcame similar circumstances.”

Myers holds two degrees from UHV. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance in 2020, and then he returned to earn a Master of Business Administration in management in 2023. Throughout his time at UHV, he experienced several major events, including getting married, having children, the COVID-19 pandemic and more. But the university’s efforts to make learning accessible and keep students informed helped make everything easier, he said.

During his presentations, he spoke to the students in management and economics classes about the importance of not just doing well, but also the need to grow their networks and make valuable connections with others in their fields and industries. In addition, he encouraged students not to compare themselves to others when navigating their careers, as no two people have the exact same journey and struggles to overcome.

“There’s so much to learn when a person makes that transition from being a student to becoming a fully independent adult,” Myers said. “I wanted to give them a sense that they can do this, and their journey is not always going to look like everyone else’s. Life is about what we have in front of us and how we can decide to change it and make something more.”

In addition to Myers, the alumni who spoke with UHV College of Business students during Alumni Week were:

• Alicia Abercrombie, 2005 and 2015, director of operations for American Omni Trading
• Ben Gonzalez, 2012, head of data analytics at AIA Global
• Mark Martinez, 2005 and 2010, special projects manager and senior business advisor/consultant for the UHV Small Business Development Center
• Nawaz Muhammad, 2023, senior director of cybersecurity at Novant Health
• Demarcus Prophet, 2021, adjunct lecturer and entrepreneur
• Aisha Raji, 2022, auditor with Deloitte Houston

Alumni who are interested in participating in Alumni Week in the future and other events with the UHV College of Business can sign up online at https://forms.office.com/r/dbawB9PR7i.