WAYNE COUNTY, N.C. – A University of Texas at San Antonio student is spending her summer in Wayne County, N.C. helping local families with their educational needs through a century-old entrepreneurial program that combines business training with community service.
Crystal Ledesma, a Business Management major from San Antonio, Texas, is participating in Southwestern Advantage, a long-standing sales and leadership program that has her visiting families throughout the area to discuss educational resources and at-home learning solutions.
Historic Program Offers Modern Skills
The Southwestern Advantage program, which has operated continuously since 1868, represents one of the nation’s oldest entrepreneurial training initiatives for college students. Founded just after the Civil War, the program currently engages approximately 1,500 students from more than 200 college and university campuses worldwide each summer.
For Ledesma, this marks her third consecutive summer with the program, providing her with extensive experience in business management, customer relations, and independent operations.
Door-to-Door Sales Experience in Digital Age
Working through a combination of referrals and cold-calls, Ledesma visits families in their homes to discuss educational products and services. She reports receiving a warm welcome from Wayne County residents and positive reception for the educational materials she presents.
The products she has shared have been well received by families, with Ledesma noting that her work often addresses common household challenges related to learning and homework assistance.
Building Professional Skills Through Direct Experience
The program offers participants exposure to business skills rarely taught in traditional classroom settings. Ledesma is developing competencies in goal-setting, scheduling, communication, problem-solving, and money management – all while helping to offset her educational expenses.
She is excited about the skillset she is acquiring, with program materials indicating that her resume will now include diverse experiences that differentiate her from peers in the competitive job market.
Community Integration
During her summer in Wayne County, Ledesma is staying with a local host family in Goldsboro, providing her with deeper community integration beyond her professional activities. This arrangement allows her to experience life in a different region while contributing to local educational support efforts.
The program represents an increasingly rare business model in the digital age, with door-to-door sales providing students with direct customer interaction experience that Ledesma describes as both challenging and rewarding.
