Students

Born Leader

Bauer Undergraduate Gains Governmental Experience in Washington, D.C.

Story by Amanda Sebesta
Photography by Charlie Propst

For some college students, business is a major. For Bauer College undergraduate Yash Dhanji, it’s a lifestyle.

Finance sophomore Dhanji comes from a family of independent business owners, and from a young age, he knew that business was the right path for him. Last summer, he spent his time in Washington, D.C., as an intern for the Asian American Hotel Owners Association in the Government Affairs Department.

Now as a student in the Bauer Business Honors Program, where he serves on the Bauer Honors Student Advisory Board, he will return to D.C. in 2023 as one of six participants selected for the Bauer in D.C. Fellowship Program.

We spoke with Dhanji recently to learn more about how his early experience with his family’s hotel business and recent foray into politics are shaping his future.

Q: Seeing your family start and run their business — do you think that has impacted the way you see the business world?

A: For sure. Growing up we would stay at the hotels, and just be around business all the time. It really jumpstarted my interest in business because I was always around it.

Q: You are a first-generation college student. Did this, combined with seeing your family’s entrepreneurial endeavors, motivate you?

A: A lot of what motivated me to get educated and to try to get into college and pursue education was mainly because I saw my parents’ sacrifice, coming here without an education and just putting their all into getting my sisters and I everything that we needed to be successful.

Personally, I felt that doing anything less than what they expect would be disrespectful to them, so I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure that not only am I doing things that I’m passionate about, but at the same time, I’m meeting their expectations and even surpassing them to make sure that they feel that their sacrifice didn't go in vain.

Q: This summer, you interned in D.C. with the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA). Tell me about that experience.

A: That experience was incredible. Though a lot of the work was remote and just research-based, being able to be in D.C. and walk around, you could just feel it in the air, and it was incredible. Some of the work I did involved contacting government officials from different states or keeping an interaction with them, joining meetings with different officials. It was surreal. It was a fundamental step in where I want to be in the future.

Q: Why did you choose to intern for that organization?

A: Our family has deep ties with this organization. It was started back in the 80s with a few Indian Americans that migrated here to America. They wanted to build a community for hotel owners who came here from India to provide them resources, and since then it's grown into the world's largest hotel owners’ association with about 20,000 members across the United States.

Q: You were also an intern during COVID. Tell me about that. How did it differ from a “normal” experience?

A: When COVID first hit, I was in high school, and it was a completely different experience. I wouldn't say that it was a bad experience. I got to spend a lot of time with my family, and then also working at the same time. Adapting to it was difficult, but after you reach a certain threshold, it just becomes natural.

Q: During your time in D.C., how did you see business and politics working together?

A: What AAHOA does specifically is that they advocate and lobby on behalf of the hospitality industry — whatever concerns that the hotel owners have and how it translates into politics.

A current example is happening now in Florida, well across the U.S., but mainly in Florida, with short-term rentals like Airbnbs. They don’t get taxed the same way that hotels do, and that's a rising concern for hotel owners. It is okay that they exist, but they should be taxed the same, or they should face the same consequences that we face, to make it fair.

So it's stuff like that, seeing how business translates into politics, and specifically for me, as I want to pursue law, it's really the best of both worlds.

Q: You’re back in D.C. this spring for the Bauer in D.C. Fellowship. What do you hope to gain from the experience?

A: Professionally, I want an experience that’s going to propel me towards what I do after graduation. I'm looking for an experience that’s going to propel me towards law school.

Personally, just because I spent this past summer in D.C. a lot of what I experienced, even though it was incredible, most of it was on my own. I'm looking forward to having five other people with me and just being able to experience things with them.

Q: Looking to the future, and graduating, what are your plans after Bauer?

A: I hope to go to law school. That is my number one priority. I'm hoping that the experiences I have from Bauer propel me in that direction. I'm so grateful to have this experience because I'm so young and there’s so much to do. There’s so much ahead of me.