COVID-19 Led Whitman Student to Discover Major

As a first-year student coming to the Whitman School of Management, Justine Salerno ’23 thought she would pursue an accounting major. However, her interests changed during the pandemic as Salerno found herself intrigued to learn about the supply chain issues happening around the world. 

The supply chain management and business analytics double major and mathematics minor fell in love with her supply chain course when she was first exposed to the subject during her sophomore year. Salerno was fascinated by how supply chain management is a broad umbrella term and that there are many avenues to explore within the subject. 

Looking back, she says, “I had never listened to the news more than during the start of the pandemic because I loved hearing the term “supply chain”. I chose supply chain as a major because it was truly something that I could picture myself waking up happy and excited to go to work in some day.” 

Some of Salerno’s favorite supply chain courses have been SCM 265: Introduction to Supply Chain Management and SCM 402: Supply Chain Management Systems. In both courses, she found the professors to be engaging, the content to be interesting and the connections to real-world situations to be enjoyable. 

As her time at Whitman continued, Salerno declared her second major, business analytics, hoping the pairing with supply chain would be beneficial. 

“After my first business analysis course, I realized that a major in this subject could be useful within any industry. During my two supply chain internships, I used so many different applications from what I learned through my business analytics classes. It is helpful to be able to clean and organize data, especially when it comes in massive amounts,” she says. 

Salerno found other ways to further her supply chain interests outside the classroom. Currently, she is the vice president of communications for the Franklin Supply Chain Club. This organization shows students how supply chain applies in real world situations. Speakers and recruiters come in to talk about their experiences and any upcoming opportunities within a company.

Aside from supply chain, she is a peer mentor, a member of Delta Sigma Pi, a career ambassador and an admissions ambassador. She was also selected to be one of two Whitman Class Marshals, representing the graduating Class of 2023. 

Following her graduation from the Whitman School this May, Salerno plans to pursue her passion for supply chain and work for Mainfreight, an international freight forwarding company in Albany, New York, in ocean export operations.

“Advice I have for students that are considering majoring in supply chain is to keep an open mind and stay involved with the news to understand how supply chain is relevant in everyday life,” says Salerno.


By Anna Rooney ’24