Name: Aja Larson
Major: Finance
Graduation: Spring 2016 (I’m going to miss her)
Hometown: Brookings, South Dakota
Her Campus: What made you decide on coming to MNSU? College of Business?
Aja Larson: “I wanted to be further from home, but not too far. I looked at SCSU and MNSU and I liked the campus, as well as the town. It seemed like there was a lot to do around the area. At the high school visiting, I had the privilege to hear some staff and students talk about the opportunities provided to students. I also liked that it was accredited.”
HC: What organizations are you involved with on campus?
AL: “Delta Sigma Pi – a professional business fraternity in the College of Business that brings together motivated business students and business professionals who are interested in our elite group of students. We also focus on community service and fundraising. It’s a great opportunity to gain networking, leadership and professional skills.
Student Allocations Committee – I co-lead a panel of nine students and we have a 4.2 million dollar budget that we recommend to senate on how much to allocate to student organizations and centers around campus.
Finance Club when I can – to hear from different financial professionals to learn about different finance professionals that will be speaking.”
HC: What real-world learning experiences have you taken advantage of as a College of Business student?
AL: “The Integrated Business Experience – I was on the finance team, communicating with the bank each week and giving them weekly financial statements.
The Maverick Fund – I get to watch over stocks within my sector and choose how to allocate the money; see how the stock market is doing from a day-to-day basis.”
HC: What leadership roles have you held?
AL: “In Delta Sigma Pi – Senior VP (Fall 2015, in charge of recruitment); President (Current, oversee the chapter and each officer to assure they are completing their duties).
SAC – Vice Chair (oversee communication with other panel members and organization leaders).”
HC: Have you had an internship? If so, where? What was one thing that you learned from that experience?
AL: “I had an internship this summer as the bookkeeping and the marketing director for the Mankato Mud Run. I learned how to utilize my skills from marketing classes see it come to life in a real world experience. It was interesting to see a different prospective of the business by doing marketing because I have always been stuck in finance role.”
HC: What can you be found doing in your down time?
AL: “Hanging out with friends, working out, and honestly applying for jobs, oh and Netflix.”
HC: What is a piece of advice that you would give an incoming freshman?
AL: “Freshman year is really a time to be figuring out what you want to be doing within the college. However, enjoy your time as a freshman because it’s only going to get busier.”
HC: Where do you see yourself in five years?
AL: “Hopefully in Minneapolis working within the Finance department working with analytics, hoping to be at a large F500 company.”
HC: Where is your favorite place to study?
AL: “Either at Caribou or the Coffee Hag, or any coffee shop where I can just sit, spread my work out and just work on it.”
HC: Where is your favorite place to eat on campus?
AL: “Einstein’s, duh.”
HC: You are seen as a leader on campus. What has been one of the biggest challenges you face with that title?
AL: “Figuring out how to delegate my time and prioritizing. There are a lot of important things that I need to be doing and I can only be one place at a time. Plus balancing that with school work as well.”