Saloni Saraf's Digital Portfolio
Explore My Work
My portfolio is a reflection of my academic pursuits and passions - a lovechild of my STEM background and passion for student development and career & academic advising.
My life in a nutshell...
I grew up in Dubai and then moved to Wisconsin for my undergrad where I double majored in Computer Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Class of 2018). I then moved to NYC to work with a Big Four Firm in their Advisory practice as a technology consulting associate and excelled at serving Fortune 500 clients and global non-profits for 3.5 years. All that to say, I realized that my biggest passion has always been advising students as they explore their career and academic development and decided to pursue by master's degree in College Counseling and Student Development at St. Cloud State University. During grad school, I got to put my newly learned skills to action as I earned coveted opportunities to intern as an Academic Advising Intern and a Career Counseling Intern at UW-Madison and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities respectively. Through these experiences, my contributions and strengths as a career advisor not only won me the esteemed Minnesota Career Development Associations' 2023 Graduate Student Award but also reaffirmed my love for career development which I decided to pursue after graduation working as the Assistant Director for Career Coaching for the Master's in Business Analytics (MSBA) program at Boston University's Questrom School of Business. I strongly believe in the power of mentorship in helping students maximize their career potential and overall collegiate experience and have 5+ years of student services experience that spans academic advising, career advising, student development, programming and wellness coaching.
In my free time, I enjoy finding new vegetarian food places, coffeshops and dessert spots in town! I also love traveling and have been to exactly 10 countries outside the US - Singapore, Turkey, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Egypt, India, United Kingdom, Oman, Netherlands and 10 states in the US!
My life through stories...
FUNNY STORY
When I graduated from college, I had a competing offer from another Big Four Firm in Minneapolis but I declined to accept it because when I traveled to Minnesota in October for my interview, it had started snowing already and I thought to myself “Why would I want to live in Minneapolis with its arctic winters when I could be enjoying the high life in New York City?” Six years later, I could not be happier to call Minneapolis one of my homes!
PERSONAL SUCCESS STORY
When I was an engineering freshman at UW-Madison, one of my favorite classes was Calculus II - Integrals. I was very shy and full of self-doubt when my math professor encouraged me to participate in the Annual UW-Integration Bee (A spelling bee like contest but for solving integrals on whiteboards instead!). I hesitantly went to the preliminary round competing with undergraduates and graduate students alike to solve as many integrals I could in under an hour. To my surprise I beat competition and made it to the finals as one of only 3 undergraduates and as the only woman. After an arduous hour of competing with graduate students much older than me, some of whom were teaching assistants for my math class, I won the competition as the Top Undergraduate! But I was challenged by a male undergraduate whose ego was hurt and demanded I relinquish my title because he couldn’t accept that a reserved nerdy woman beat him. It was at that moment that I owned my win and won the support of all the other students present there who agreed that I had beat him fair and square to the most profound round of applause that gave me the confidence to believe in myself thereafter.
What My Students Say...
Anonymous BU Questrom MSBA Graduate Student
"I wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude for all your guidance and support throughout my career journey. Your insights and advice have been invaluable in helping me navigate this opportunity and make informed decisions... I am eager to apply the knowledge and skills I've gained through your mentorship."
Please reach out!
Interested in learning more about my skills, experiences or my student development philosophy? Do I sound like someone you'd like to work with? Please don't hesitate to reach out via email. I'll do my best to get back to you as soon as I can!