Stephanie Szczepanski '12
Coffee, Spain and Entrepreneurship.
Stephanie Szczepanski is in love. But it’s not just because she’s a newlywed. The Westerly native who lives in Wakefield is in love with coffee.
Laughs Szczepanski (pronounced “Suss-panski”), “From the drink to ice cream, I’ve always loved everything coffee. In fact, my family nicknamed me ‘Beans’!”
It was this love affair with the coffee bean that inspired Szczepanski to come to URI. Of course, one cannot major in coffee here. However, Szczepanski is set to graduate in May with a degree in entrepreneurial management earned at URI’s College of Business Administration (COBA). Then she plans to brew lots of coffee.
“It’s been my dream to own and operate my own coffee shop, and I’ll import and roast the beans on-site,” affirms Szczepanski, who has extensive experience in restaurant work and was a supervisor for a couple of years at the Wakefield Starbucks. Further, she plans a zero-carbon-footprint business.
Szczepanski has another love, too: the Spanish language, and it landed her the opportunity to spend July 2011 in Spain as the inaugural recipient of the Margo L. Cook Internship/Student Abroad Endowment Scholarship. The fund is earmarked for students in the College of Business Administration and is funded by Margo L. Cook ’86, a COBA grad who is an active volunteer with both the College and the URI Foundation.
Minoring in Spanish, Szczepanski is passionate about the language she began studying in the seventh grade and continued through high school. “I think it so valuable to know a second language,” she says, adding, “it will be useful if I travel to South America for my future business.”
Through the Spanish Department, Szczepanski learned about URI’s Study Abroad Program in Salamanca, Spain. Taking place every July, the program features weekday classes taught by professors from all over Spain. On weekends students take group trips to Spanish cities, as well as an excursion to Portugal. And, according to Szczepanski, the Spanish enjoy their coffee, gathering in outdoor cafes and plazas for an afternoon break.
The budding entrepreneur would never have dreamed that she could have such an experience, combining education, her great loves and travel. “I was only able to afford the trip because of the Margo Cook scholarship,” Szczepanski explains. Further, she was able to thank her benefactor in person while the URI Foundation board member was in town during the fall. “Margo Cook is such a wonderful woman. We talked about business, sustainability and where I’m hoping to go in the future. I’m just so grateful that I was selected to receive her scholarship.”
Though now a wife in addition to full-time student with a part-time job, Szczepanski has made room in her busy life to share her knowledge and experiences with others. She serves as president of the URI Entrepreneurship Club, which collaborates with other state schools to develop entrepreneurial forums and resources for students who want to start their own businesses. Clearly she appreciates the opportunities she has been afforded and is making the most of her experience at URI.