BEN
business administration

WHY WEBER STATE?

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I was born in North Carolina but moved to Utah when I was only 3 months old. So, I’ve heard of Weber my whole life and my sister, brother, and brother-in-law all went to Weber. I am saddened to say that when I first went to Weber, I thought of it as “just” Weber. I had no idea what I wanted to be or go into, so I thought I would simply go to the school that many of my family members and friends went to or were going to – not to mention that the campus was only about a twenty minute drive to my house.

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WHY BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION?

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I struggled for so long trying to figure out what I wanted to major in and Business Administration, or any business major, was the last thing that I thought I would ever want to major in. But, after a conversation with a dear friend and mentor, who told me that they had wished they had taken some business class (they own a very large and successful business) I decided that that’s what I should do. It didn’t take long for me to love my major.

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INCREDIBLE ACCESS

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I absolutely loved getting to know the different people working in the Goddard School, especially the teachers. Each teacher is so unique and many of them bring in many years of work experience to the class. I have seen time and time again where teachers go above and beyond to help my other classmates and I succeed. Whether it was dressing up as a judge and acting out a court room case to help us better understand how the judicial system works to teaching prep sessions outside of class for an ASQ Six Sigma Green Belt certification exam, the teachers at the Goddard School always found ways to help us learn and go farther in our careers.

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FACULTY IMPACT

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There were many faculty members that made a big impact on me. One of them was Dean Mouritsen, who at the time was my accounting teacher. I was amazed when on only the second or third day of class, he went around the room and said the name of every student in the class to make sure he had remembered our names correctly. This simple act of learning my name, not to mention the other 50 plus student’s names, made me feel important and showed that it mattered that I was in class and going to school. It was perhaps even more amazing to me that a few years later, I had another class with Dean Mouritsen, and he still remembered my name. 

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ADVICE

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I would say to get to know your teachers, get involved in the clubs and events, and focus on learning. I’venever been a fan of the saying, “C’s get degrees”. I would say to focus on learning everything you can, because you will actually use the knowledge you’ll be learning in your future career. With the focus more on learning rather than just passing the class, you’ll find your grades will be much better and you’ll enjoying your classes a lot more.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

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I am still currently working for my father at Sovereign SP and I am loving it. I feel that I have learned so much over these past few years and am excited to continue working for my dad. My career aspirations are to become a better employee for my father as I continue to learn and grow my skills and abilities in more of the IT industry. As for starting my own business, I am constantly thinking of ideas and have one that I’m currently working on that we’re hopefully going to actually create and make a reality very soon. Once again, I am grateful for the skills, knowledge, and relationships that I gained and made while at Weber State and I am incredibly grateful for all my teachers, other faculty, my friends, and my family that helped me get where I am today.

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