The Class of 2030 Isn’t Waiting for Opportunities. They Are Creating Them.
When the undergraduate Class of 2030 unpacks their bags in the coming days, they will arrive with more than their bedding and extra power strips. They will arrive with proof of what happens when curiosity meets action.
Specifically, what happens when you can’t let a problem simply simmer.
“I’ve always been inclined to move from observation to action,” Isabella Alexopoulos ’30 says. “When I identify a problem, my instinct is to ask what I can do to change it rather than why it exists.”
It’s a similar ethos to what has driven the Babson College campus for decades and will certainly motivate Alexopoulos and her fellow classmates as they begin their time here.
Members of the Class of 2030 already have written books about AI, started woodworking businesses, found meaning on the soccer field, and self-taught themselves Portuguese. They care about mental health resources and ethical uses of AI. They’ve started business classes at their high schools and grown community organizations to fight climate change and food insecurity.
It’s not all classwork and venture ideas, though. For many students, their first step is to take a breath.
“I’ve lived in Colorado my whole life; I can’t wait to branch out and immerse myself in a new landscape,” Norris Sun ’30 says. “An incoming peer sent me a photo of a rope-string spider web among the trees on campus. I really want to just sit there and be with nature. During my time at Babson, I want to just take in each moment, experience it wholeheartedly, embrace it unapologetically, and be grateful.”
Get to know Alexopoulos, Sun, and other students joining the Babson campus this fall.
Isabella (Bella) Alexopoulos ’30
Alexopoulos, who also self-taught herself Portuguese to connect with her co-workers at a part-time job on Cape Cod, didn’t let her high school’s lack of business classes deter her. She started her own in her senior year, something the school can now build upon.
“I didn’t want the opportunity to end with me. The project became a testimony to one of the things I value most about myself: I don’t wait for opportunities—I create them. If there is something I wish existed, my first instinct is to ask, ‘Why can’t I build it?’
“This is what makes entrepreneurship so compelling. It’s not simply about having ideas; it’s about recognizing an unmet need, taking ownership of the problem, and having the persistence to turn an abstract idea into something other people can actually use.”
Eliana Carson ’30
While being a student-athlete in Virginia, Eliana Carson ’30 founded Hi Vibrant U, a social impact business focused on supporting student-athlete mental health. Her ardor for advocacy, community-building, and helping others will guide her time at Babson.
“After hosting student-athlete mental health workshops for 130 athletes at my school, I learned being a leader isn’t about having everything figured out. It isn’t about being the first to speak or being the loudest voice. True leadership is about identifying a need in a community, a willingness to be vulnerable, and taking a leap of courage to step up and start something new. I can’t wait to be around other like-minded students with similar entrepreneurial passions and use everything Babson teaches to build something with meaningful impact.”
Shuchen (Owen) He ’30
A nationally competitive badminton player from New York, Shuchen (Owen) He ’30 also already has completed a strategic consulting internship with McKinsey & Company. And when many were experimenting with AI tools, He took a different approach: he wrote a book.
“Instead of only learning about AI as a technology, I wanted to understand how it could solve real problems for entrepreneurs. (For AI for Entrepreneurs), I researched different AI tools and explored how they could help business owners reduce costs, improve efficiency, and turn ideas into action. Through this process, I realized many people have entrepreneurial ideas but hesitate to start because they lack resources, experience, or access to support. This book became my way of helping lower those barriers.”
Riya Kolappa ’30
On her list of potential goals, Riya Kolappa ’30 includes starting her own clothing brand and pursuing her passion for fashion alongside business. She also spent her last high-school years in Northern California building The Good Boost, a venture that helps small businesses and nonprofits with marketing.
“I cold-called and emailed over 30 organizations, asking them questions about their marketing struggles and goals. A recurring issue was evident: all these organizations had high school employees helping them with their social media, but when they graduated, the accounts would become completely inactive. … I had an idea of a library of editable content for recurring events.
“While this project taught me real-world skills of how to network and manage Facebook and Google ads, it specifically improved my problem-solving skills. It showed me the importance of listening and identifying a ‘hidden need’ instead of assuming what people need. Solutions aren’t always linear, and I learned how to change directions when something doesn’t work.”
Norris Sun ’30
Sun, who is a taekwondo instructor and a Colorado Future Business Leaders of America state officer, is also the co-founder of the Grassroots Leadership Opportunities (GLO) Ambassadors Program. It is a youth-based community outreach consulting firm for public works projects.
“The youth deserve more than what they’ve been given. They deserve more than to wait as their passions wither due to the cynical nature of our world and the systems that lack proper infrastructure for support and opportunity. Their passions deserve the chance to prosper into impact long before the innate curiosity we have as children dims. That’s why I created GLO.”
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