For Jimena Abascal-Tavera ’26, Bulldog pride runs in the family — right down to her road-tripping pets.
Abascal-Tavera, an International Business major who recently accepted a commodity risk analyst position at global energy company bp, says her life has always had an international flavor.
"I grew up in a three-culture household,” she says. “I was born in Mexico, where my father is from, and lived there until I was eight years old. My mother is from Spain, and my family moved to Texas in 2012 and we became U.S. citizens in 2022.”
Bryant was the right size for Abascal-Tavera, whose high school in Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston, had about the same number of students as the university. As a first-year student, she had a built-in support system from overlapping with the junior and senior years of her brother, Carlos Abascal ’24, who played four years as an offensive lineman on the Bulldogs football team.
“We’ve always been very close. We’d get lunch on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I used to go to his games. We also were able to take a class together,” she recalls.
Carlos was unable to attend Jimena’s graduation: he works as an analyst in the Houston office of financial services firm BNY, where he interned while studying Finance at Bryant. But both of her parents, Cony Tavera and Carlos Abascal, as well as younger brother, Diego, made the more than 3,500-mile drive to celebrate Jimena getting her degree.
Also along for the ride were the family’s three dogs: Camila, a Maltipoo; Paola, a Yorkipoo; and Eva, a Shihpoo.
“My family has driven up here probably five times, and they always brought my three dogs and my cat,” explains Abascal-Tavera, noting that although her cat stayed home this time, the tradition continued with the addition of the family's new puppy, Eva.
“My parents are so family-oriented: it’s the one constant thing that you're going to have throughout your whole life, so that extends to bringing your pets everywhere you go,” she says, even if it means choosing a long drive over a short flight.
There was a lot for the extended family to celebrate at the end of the road. In addition to being part of Bryant’s Honors Program and earning dual minors in Economics and Psychology, Abascal-Tavera was heavily involved in the campus community, serving on the Senior Advisory Council, acting as treasurer of the Alliance for Women’s Awareness, working as an economic tutor, and offering resources to peers via the Student Support Network.
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Abascal-Tavera also honed her finance skills as a portfolio manager for the student-led Archway Investment Fund, following in her brother’s footsteps; took part in a capstone project with an international manufacturing firm; and studied abroad in Seville, Spain.
The capstone project happened to coincide with the the peak of tariff uncertainty, she notes. “We got to see how a company in the United States with big operations in Mexico was able to navigate that and the different ways they could exploit their competitive advantages,” she says. “It was interesting to put into perspective the headlines we were seeing and understand at a granular level the steps that companies were taking in response.”
Abascal-Tavera says that while Bryant’s International Business program has a deserved reputation of being very rigorous, “it makes you a better student and worker.
“I applied all the different skills I learned in the program to my bp internship in the summer,” she says. “I even emailed one of my professors thanking them for being so tough, because it made me grow thick skin.”
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Back in her home city, Abascal-Tavera says the experience of going away to school and studying abroad gave her the confidence and independence to someday work or continue her education overseas, if the opportunity arises.
In some ways, however, her whole upbringing has prepared her to take risks for a chance to excel.
“A lot of sacrifice comes with immigrating, and finding a place that allows you to foster the things you want to do is important,” she says, pointing to her parents’ move to provide better opportunities for their children.
“I was lucky enough to land at Bryant, which has a lot of international students,” she adds. “Maybe they stay here or go back to their home countries; it's a hard transition, but I think it's something that you have to be willing to do.”
“I was lucky enough to land at Bryant, which has a lot of international students. Maybe they stay here or go back to their home countries; it's a hard transition, but I think it's something that you have to be willing to do.”
A self-described advance planner who has led a somewhat volatile life, Abascal-Tavera says her background, Bryant education, and chosen career path “are really teaching me to be confident about what I have but also be open to new experiences.”