LOC
finance '21 

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WHY WEBER STATE?

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I am a Vietnamese-American immigrant. I came to the U.S. 5 years ago. I used to work as a nail technician and machine operator at Lifetime Products in Clearfield. I always wanted to achieve higher education. Thus, I joined The Utah Army National Guard to pay for college. I planned to attend school at the University of Utah, but I came home late after the Army initial training. I ended up at WSU and realized how great the school and ROTC program are. So I decided to stay and finish my degree at WSU.

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WHY FINANCE?

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I chose Accounting at first because I thought it will be easy to study and to find a job like what else can you do studying accounting? However, after the first two accounting classes. I realized accounting wasn’t my things. So I switched to Finance major since two majors are just a few classes different, and I fell in love with it. I remember once a professor said “the limit of your paycheck working in Finance field is your talents.” And it’s true, there is no limit of how much money students in Finance can make. “It depends is always the answer”, said the professor.

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INCREDIBLE ACCESS

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I love the small size of the class at Goddard school. There’s a saying that “aim small, miss small.” Since the classes are small, they opens big opportunities for students to interact with peers and professors. I was the quite one always sitting at the back of the class but most professor would recognize me after the first exam. Also, there are a lot of resources in school. I graduated and didn’t pay any penny for tuition and fees. In fact, I made money going to school thanks to ROTC, the National Guard, and Goddard school scholarships. Beside my National Guard’s tuition waiver, I got more scholarships from the Goddard School and used them to study abroad. Japan/Korea study abroad was an awesome class. I missed the Italy class due to COVID-19.

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FACULTY IMPACT

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There are a lot faculty and staff that I can’t thank enough during the time at WSU. Some of them that I can mention are the Financial Aid Office for always fixing the issues at a timely manner, the Student Support Service for always being helpful, professor Terrilyn Morgan (most students don’t get used to her classes’ style but it made sense as I advanced in my career), professor Matthew Thue (every class in college should be in this style), and professor Branden Little (I didn’t like history but he changed my mind), and many more.

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ADVICE

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College was a fun time for me. My motto is “Work hard. Have fun. Give back.” Classes were not easy but not impossible, start studying early. Procrastination is the most dangerous game in college. Enjoy your time in college, make friends and expand your networks as it will be useful when you graduate. And always give back to the community when you have a chance.

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WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

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I commissioned with the Florida National Guard and became a Second Lieutenant. I will spend 6 months on officer training in Oklahoma. I want to be a full-time trader and live in Florida so I can enjoy the time with my family.

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