A native of Churchville, Pennsylvania, Dylan Wichterman graduated from the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics as a finance major with a minor in professional selling and sales management.
Wichterman was nominated for this series by UD Assistant Professor of Marketing Suresh Sundaram.
Sundaram said, “Dylan is a finance major with a minor in professional selling and sales management. He has maintained a 4.0 GPA in the sales minor and has been a semifinalist in the Lerner Sales Competition and won the first place among UD students in the RNMKRS Sales Competition in Spring 2023. RNMKRS is a global virtual sales competition in which over 2500 students from over 65 universities compete.”
In this profile Wichterman shares his favorite UD memories, his advice to younger students, and his future plans.
Lerner: How do you think you have changed from your first semester at UD to now?
Wichterman: I personally think my confidence has skyrocketed since my first semester at UD. Being able to strive in a variety of difficult assignments and competitions allowed me to prove to myself what I am really capable of. This boost in confidence also applied to me socially, as I’ve had the pleasure of making so many new friends during my time at UD, many of which I’m sure I’ll stay in contact with long after graduation.
Lerner: What have been some of the challenges you have faced during your college experience and how did you overcome them?
Wichterman: The most obvious challenge I’ve faced during college was coming in as a freshman during the pandemic. It made the already challenging adjustment into college even more difficult, but I truly believe I’ve become a stronger person because of it. Once campus operations began to return back to normal, I made it my mission to step out of my comfort zone and get involved in things I wouldn’t have considered before. This eventually motivated me to join my fraternity and the sales minor, which I still think are two of the best decisions I’ve made during my time at UD.
Lerner: What was your favorite signature UD experience and why?
Wichterman: Getting involved in Greek life and everything that has come with it has been a very rewarding signature college experience for me. It’s been a great feeling to be a part of such a passionate community and meet many of my best friends along the way. I’ve felt so much more connected to campus and the Newark community as a whole through my fraternity, and I’ve enjoyed every second of it.
Lerner: Did you have a Lerner professor or staff member that had a big impact on your UD experience?
Wichterman: It’s too hard to pick just one, so I’d like to mention all my sales professors: Suresh Sundaram, John Scott, and Dan Alia. They’ve all been great mentors to me, whether that’s been through guiding me through several competitions or preparing me for interviews and other networking opportunities. I owe a lot of my success at UD to them.
Lerner: What does being a “Lifelong Lerner” mean to you?
Wichterman: To me, being a Lifelong Lerner means to never stop learning new things and pursuing your passions. I’ve met so many Lerner faculty and peers that all share this same mentality, and it’s something I’m proud to carry forward even after graduation. It also means being a mentor to others, and I hope I can continue this tradition of mentorship as those who have guided me have.
Lerner: What advice would you give to incoming freshmen to make the most out of their college experience?
Wichterman: My advice would be to get involved on campus and remember to enjoy every second of the experience. There’s so many ways to get involved and I highly recommend joining and being really active in at least one organization that fits your interests; you can meet so many people and open so many doors doing so. When you put it into perspective, four years is not a long amount of time, so I just hope freshmen come into it knowing that and try to enjoy every moment of their time at UD.
Lerner: What are your plans following graduation?
Wichterman: After graduation I’ll be working at PayPal as an inside sales specialist, where I’ll work with the inside sales team to address the needs of small and medium businesses that want to accept an increasingly wide range of payments from their customers. This job wouldn’t have been possible for me without guidance from Lerner professors and connections made during UD networking events.