With three degrees and two minors from Campbell’s School of Business in 4½ years, the doors are wide open for Dominik Kaniewski ’14 MBA.
“Always challenge yourself.” That’s what Dominik Kaniewski’s parents told him over and over again when he was growing up. So that is what he has done. He left his hometown of Bydgoszcz, Poland, for instance, to attend Campbell University. “I like exploring new things, I like to work under pressure, and I like to challenge myself,” he said.
That began early for Kaniewski. He was walking around a park with his grandmother when he first spotted tennis balls. He couldn’t stop staring at them. His grandfather, a former athlete, then, took him to his first tennis academy when he turned 7. “I haven’t stopped playing since,” Kaniewski said.
Campbell men’s tennis coach David Johnson saw a video of Kaniewski playing and recruited him to Campbell. The transition was hard at first, because the cultures of Bydgoszcz and Buies Creek are so different, Kaniewski said.
But the Campbell that Johnson described during the recruitment process was the Campbell Kaniewski came to experience. “This place is very good, and that’s because of the people,” Kaniewski said. “They’re nice, caring and supportive. They’ve created something special here.”
The “something special” includes School of Business professors who emphasized creativity and critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, he said. “I’ve learned how to apply knowledge in different situations.”
That included during his time as a captain of the tennis team, which also reinforced his passion for leadership. “I am one who looks for ways we can improve stuff, and I like giving people direction,” he said. “I like to be a leader.”
Wanting to be a leader is what initially drew him to the School of Business and its 3/2 program, which enables student to complete a Master of Business Administration and an undergraduate degree in less than five years.
But Kaniewski? He earned an MBA, two undergraduates degrees in business administration and marketing, and two minors in accounting and economics in 4 ½ years. “I figured it would be good to push myself,” said Kaniewski, who completed those degrees while playing four years of collegiate tennis, being heavily involved in the International Club, and interning at a tennis club in Brevard, N.C.
That internship grew into a full-time position in which Kaniewski splits his time between providing tennis instruction and helping manage the office. “I am getting to combine both things I like and apply both my tennis knowledge and business knowledge,” he said.
Down the road, he could manage a club or try to move into finance. “I can do a lot of different things with my degrees and minors,” he said. “The doors are wide open.”–Cherry Crayton