Tewksbury High School alumnus and current University of Rhode Island student champions Supply Chain Management as a promising academic and career path.
Class of 2026: Join Me in Studying Supply Chain Management
It feels like yesterday when I was deciding my major for college as a Tewksbury Memorial High School senior. Trying to pick one that fulfils your personal interest but also will set you up for a successful career can be tough. The days of dreaming of being an astronaut or a pop star are behind us. For those considering a business career, I assume you all know about the common selections such as finance, marketing, or accounting, but I would bet you looked over one that the world runs on.
I am talking about supply chain management (SCM).
Look at it in a way such as this. If marketing majors are the voice of a product and an accounting major is the recorder, the supply chain major is the main engine. The process of making products and getting them from one place to another can be the simple definition but it goes much deeper than that. From global politics to a bad harvest, the variety of supply chain problems and solutions are infinite. I blindly picked this route but am now in a position of success I never thought to be in at this time.
Being a business major can get the perception that you are stuck in a cubicle all day. You see these memes of adults working away their life, but supply chain showed me the excitement in the field. Being a supply chain major always has your brain working to find different, unique solutions. You can compare it to something like a global strategy game or puzzle. You will learn data analytics where you can use math to predict how much of a product people will use in June compared to January. You will learn the sustainability side where you can design certain routes to reduce carbon emissions. You will learn of global logistics and understand that a conflict with ports in China can affect your everyday life. The more you get immersed into the world of supply chain, the more you realize that everything revolves around it.
Parents, I know college is a big step in your family’s life. The thought of sending your kid off alone is a big enough stress already but I think I can help relive that for you. With the way the job market is today, it is a struggle to find anything to do. One thing the supply chain offers is job security and ROI. The world today is faster and needier than it was when you were growing up. Whether it is Amazon 1-day shipping or express delivery for your DoorDash order, people want things fast. This all relates to the supply chain. This is not a career that will be washed away in a couple years, it is only getting bigger. When things go wrong, people look to the supply chain majors to fix the inefficiency. This is something that AI could not replace. Starting salaries are also among the highest out of the business majors.
Being a supply chain major can cover all of your interests. When you think of supply chain, the majority of people instantly think of companies like Amazon and FedEx but it goes so much further than that. If you are into fashion, you can help manage the new trend by pivoting your company’s materials. If you are into gaming, you can help make sure the new gaming consoles have all the right parts in stock. If you are into sports, you can make sure equipment gets to a new city when your favorite team hits the road.
The bottom line is do not pick a major just based on tradition. If you want a fast paced, growing, innovative career, give supply chain a thought.
Blake Ryder is a student at the University of Rhode Island College of Business majoring in supply chain management.
Blake Ryder
Tewksbury, MA, 01876
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