The OU JCPenney Leadership Program is a student organization that provides opportunities for students in the Michael F. Price College of Business.
The program is reserved for undergraduate Price college majors. It teaches students leadership skills — such as resume formats, interview etiquette, personal confidence and social networking — to prepare them for life after college, according to members of the program and the program’s website.
Members of the JCPenney Leadership Program told OU Daily it has helped them in a variety of ways as they enter the professional world.
‘Out of my shell’
Vicky Chen, a finance and economics junior pursuing an accelerated master’s in finance, is in her second year of the program.
Last summer, Chen worked at Citizens Bank of Edmond, where she interned in multiple departments. She acquired the internship through the program’s “C Suite for a Day” initiative, where members of the organization are sent to shadow company executives.
“I was able to shadow the CEO for the day,” Chen said. “Afterwards, I reached out and asked if there were any internship opportunities that they had, and I was able to get my summer 2025 internship through the program.”
Chen started her internship in the bank’s human relations department, where she spent a month sorting through new hires’ resumes, reviewing applications and organizing interviews.
During her second month, Chen moved to the finance department, where she said her tasks varied significantly day-to-day.
“Whenever I worked at the finance department, I was tasked with different projects,” Chen said. “Some days I was making dashboards. Some days I was doing various analyses. Some days I was looking at budgets.”
Chen said she worked a standard 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job structure. Because of her time spent interning, she said she now feels more comfortable working with business professionals and fellow students.
“A big part that we focus on is obviously being a leader, giving yourself that confidence so that you’re able to stand out and lead in front of others,” Chen said. “I have definitely grown. … I’m more comfortable with leading, and I feel more confident in myself.”
Chen said the program has also helped her become more sociable in both business and personal settings.
“I’ve met so many great people through the program and it’s helped (me) come out of my shell,” Chen said.
From aviation to business
Kennedy Corbin, an entrepreneurship and business management senior, joined the program last fall. Corbin said she was familiar with the organization from her undergraduate courses but learned more about the program after switching her major from aviation to business.
“I had known a couple people in the program who had highly suggested making that transition,” Corbin said.
Corbin said Boeing, one of the program's corporate sponsors, gave students an internship opportunity in the company’s finance department. She said taking an office job helped her fine-tune her career goals after changing majors.
After her switch from aviation to a business degree, Corbin was unsure about her future career. She then spoke to Breea Clark, the JCPenney Leadership Program director, about a potential internship, during which she was able to schedule a follow-up meeting with Boeing recruitment.
“Breea had helped me get an interview as well as (a) one-on-one with the recruitment person,” Corbin said.
Corbin’s internship involved meetings with the company’s various departments to review and ensure deadlines, fulfill contract terms and create funding reports.
“I was on the finance contracts team for Boeing with the bombers department, …” Corbin said. “My day-to-day typically looked like helping out with contract compliance that the company had with clients.”
Corbin said the company worked with her to fit her personal interests. Since she had an interest in consulting projects, she said she was tasked to lead an internal consulting project with the company’s funding process.
With a blended schedule of remote and office work, Corbin commuted to Boeing’s Norman office every Tuesday through Thursday, with Monday and Friday alternating between at-home and in-person work.
Corbin credits many of her professional skills to the traits she learned through the program.
“The program really helped me in terms of networking,” Corbin said. “In a professional sense, being able to talk about what skills I could help offer without sounding arrogant, but then also, too, being able to approach people.”
‘People from all different walks of life’
Rowan Reynolds, a pre-law accounting junior, joined the JCPenney Leadership Program during her sophomore year after applying on a whim. She is now a part of the leadership team and serves as a peer trainer for students in the organization.
“Building relationships with those kind of people, like-minded people, has been so awesome and built a community that I just would have never had before,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said Clark regularly shares internship opportunities throughout the school year. One opportunity, which allowed students to work alongside Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), stood out to Reynolds.
After applying, and with a reference letter from Clark, Reynolds was accepted for the internship.
Reynolds’ job focused on general workplace tasks, answering and logging calls that came through Bice’s office, and planning events. She said the internship lasted throughout the 2025 spring semester.
“My job was just trying to be the first point of reference for all of her constituents. … A new administration was coming in, with (President Donald) Trump coming into office and so there was a lot of concerns for the first few months and my job was to kind of diffuse anything,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds worked about 15 hours per week, commuting to Oklahoma City for three five-hour shifts, and was able to create a work schedule that worked around her classes.
Reynolds said she feels that she worked more efficiently in Bice’s office because of her polished confidence and people skills developed through the program.
“Much of business is just really refining how you talk to people and being in JCPenney, there was so many networking opportunities that first semester and different opportunities to meet people from different majors, …” Reynolds said. “I got really good at networking … with people from all different walks of life and that translated really well.”
This story was edited by Ana Barboza, Natalie Armour and Thomas Pablo. Tori Pham, Kylie Caldwell, Gretchen Schultz and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
