Los Angeles: LAWA and Accenture

Filled with excitement for the last day and our last two site visits, the Ramble team gathered in the lobby at an early hour in the morning. We headed first to the Los Angeles World Airports, then Accenture. A bunch of us were looking forward to the Accenture visit in hopes of building some lasting connections, and everyone was very excited for LAWA.

At LAWA, we were able to meet Justin Erbacci, the interim CEO and Loyola alum, and heard him talk about LAX and its future. He also shared his background, his professional journey, and the advice he had for us rising professionals. After a question-answer round and another presentation outlining the plan for “people mover” for LAX, we went on a trip to the airfield on a special shuttle bus. The airfield was massive – no exaggeration – and we saw several planes and hangars. The most exquisite experience was being able to see the Qantas A380, a double-decker Airbus model, parked in its hanger that was specially modeled for the airbus.

After this we headed to Chipotle to grab our preordered lunch, before heading to our final destination for the 2020 Ramble: Accenture.

Wayne Kimball Jr., a Quinlan alum and our host at Accenture, welcomed and led us to a conference room laid out with our name tags on tables and a bunch of goodies. Wayne and his team had an informative and engaging presentation, followed by a panel of four people from diverse consulting experiences. I believe this helped me understand the wide scope of consulting, and how a person from any background could be valuable in this industry as it is all about the experience. The Accenture team also organized a case study/brainstorming activity for us where we were split into four teams and given a hypothetical situation to help a client with. We were then asked to present the solution we came up with, and what our brainstorming process was. This was wonderful activity in team and leadership building, collaborating and communicating.

I remember our Ramble leaders telling us how a lot of students’ perspectives on industries changed through the site visits. I was surely hoping to learn more about a diverse set of industries in the hopes of finding a field that sparked my interest more than the others. While I thought I did not want to pursue a corporate consulting profession, our visit to Accenture completely changed that opinion I had. With the interactive group activity, I realized how well-suited consulting is for the kind of profession I want to pursue: analytical and creative. It is different to hear and read about a profession, versus actually being able to get a taste of it. I believe that workshop activity was everyone’s favorite part, and surely was one of the highlights of my Ramble trip.

On our ride back, it was a mixed bag of emotions: exhilarated because we successfully completed our site visits, excited to have a free evening, yet sad that it was over. Everyone was satisfied and proud of themselves and the team for making Quinlan proud at every site and event we attended, and very content with the relationships fostered.

Poorvi Modi (BBA '22)
Economics