Hello all!

Hi everyone! My name is Alison (you can call me Ali) Cottrell, and I am a junior here at the University of Wisconsin Madison. I am majoring in international business and marketing, with a certificate in French. I am originally from a suburb right outside Chicago called Park Ridge.

I love learning about the business and interaction of individuals globally, as well as learning about the psychology of business and human interactions. Here at Madison, I am in the business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi, which allows me to network and learn a lot a

bout the business world.

I have spoken French since high school, and studied about two summers ago in Paris for a month. This spring, I’ll be spending the semester abroad Paris  (where I’m hoping to improve and continue on my way to becoming fluent).

Last summer I interned at a private event planning company called Red Frog Events. Red Frog puts on 5k runs called “Warrior Dash” as well as one of the largest music festivals in the US: Firefly Music Festival. I traveled all around the US (and Canada) this summer to attend and work at events. My favorite part of this internship was definitely working at Firefly, where I was able to see some of my favorite artists backstage including Jack Johnson and Imagine Dragons.

One of my favorite hobbies (and probably the one I am most invested in) is running. I will be running the Chicago marathon this October, so training for it this summer and fall has taken up a great deal of my time (but I love it!) My favorite place to run in Madison is definitely the Lake Shore path during sunrise!

I wouldn’t say I write very often, only when classes require it. However, most of my business classes don’t require rigorous writing. The last intensive course I took was probably my Com A basic speech course that also involved writing speeches. The only other classes that require writing papers are my French courses. Although I don’t mind writing, I prefer shorter papers/ responses rather than longer papers like research papers. I will definitely use this class to improve my writing skills.

I'm excited to get to know you all this semester!