Name: Elexis Grimes
Year: Senior
Major: Accounting
Minor: International Business
Hometown: Eastpointe, Michigan
Elexis is majoring in Accounting and is the president of the organization Kongamano. She is also part of the Residential Business Program (RBP) and on the homecoming court. She loves to volunteer, and she spent the past summer volunteering in Tanzania. In her free time, she loves dancing, reflective writing and playing volleyball.
What made you choose accounting as a major? With accounting, you get to learn a lot about businesses. I want to be a certified public accountant, and as a CPA, I’m able to see a lot of different industries and areas of business and apply that towards whatever I want to do long term. This opens up a lot of avenues for me. And for international business, I want to work abroad. For now, I would want to work in developed countries, then transition into developing countries, working in developing markets. I’m learning Swahili, so I hope I eventually get to go to east Africa.
What are your interests? I love dancing, whether it’s American dances or just learning different dances from other cultures. But also, I like to help others in any capacity whether that be volunteering or helping my friends that I met in Tanzania with their startup companies and giving them the resources. Obviously, now I don’t know much about it, but I’m more than happy to offer any assistance that I can to people who are trying to do things with their careers.
What made you volunteer in Africa? I have always wanted to go to Africa, but Tanzania specifically, because my Swahili professor is from Tanzania and my best friend from freshman year is from Kenya, so I got the idea to study Swahili from him and then my idea to go to Tanzania from my friend. I have always wanted to go to Africa, and as an African American, a lot of African Americans in this country take pride in the fact that they are from Africa, but don’t know a lot about it. So I really wanted to challenge myself and learn something hands on.
Do you consider yourself a feminist? In my GBL class, my professor posted an article about feminism, so I looked at the definition. So yes, I do consider myself one because I’m a woman, and I should have equal rights as men, equal pay and opportunities.
What are you currently involved in? I am an RA at McDonel Hall, and I am part of the Residential Business Program at McDonel. I’m a course assistant for BUS 201, which is a sophomore seminar to business – it is a personal and professional developmental course. Also, I’m the president of an organization called Kongamano – it’s a Swahili word for a meeting place – we have tea time and 2-3 different African countries to discuss about. There are students and faculty who present about their country, and afterwards, we talk about it; there’s always a good discussion about that. People from Michigan to people of the actual country are represented in that room, so we have a lot of cross-cultural dialogue. I’m part of the National Association of Black Accountants as well; we just recently had a conference in Milwaukee, and I learned a lot about professionalism. I am also on the Homecoming court, which are 10 students who represent the student population.
As a senior, what do you think will be the most important thing you’ll be taking away from MSU? First, my ability to challenge myself. Coming in freshman year, I never wanted to get out of my comfort zone, but I was provided with resources, especially through the the RBP program. My mentor showed me that I could do whatever I want to do, so I was able to challenge myself in many respects and have accomplished a lot of things throughout my time. Second, my ability to help others. I have learned a lot through international and domestic students – that’s why I became an RA – to help students, especially freshman students, on their paths to leadership and development.