Alumni, Family and Friends
Name: Joseph Dumais
Class of: 2019
Program: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Bradley Three Year Honors Program
I chose Southern New Hampshire University for several reasons. First, I could tell when visiting the campus that affordable and quality education was the top priority and that was what I was looking for. I also found that the professors I talked to seemed really focused on helping students grow and find employment after college, and that stood out to me. The beautiful campus and generous financial aid package also helped me make my decision.
I hoped to receive a college education in which I would gain real world experience and learn useful skills that I could apply in my career. I’d say my experience at SNHU has been everything I imagined and more. I expected at least some of college to be sitting in lecture halls and listening to a professor talk for hours, but I’ve found that is not how education is approached at SNHU. I’ve had the opportunity to work on more group projects than I thought, and I think those have really been the most valuable experiences for me.
I would agree that the SNHU community is incredibly friendly and supportive to all of its members. I’ve never been to another place where strangers say hi in passing on the sidewalk! It’s also very easy to find people who are passionate about the same things as you at SNHU. For me, my experience has felt personal because of how closely my professors work with me. Every professor I’ve had was willing to go above and beyond to help my classmates and me understand the material and improve our skills. I don’t just feel like another bothersome student, I feel like I’m the future of this world that my professors are truly invested in.
I was inspired to study business administration because of my family. Growing up, I watched my family start a business and fail, and I knew that I wanted to further my education to one day succeed in starting my own business. I also really enjoyed business and personal finance.
My dream job is to be an estate planner that will help families prepare for the future and ensure their assets are protected. I’ve always wanted to do something that makes a significant difference in people’s lives by helping them with something they could not do on their own and I think that job would allow me to do that.
Although I’ve been lucky enough to have many great influences at SNHU, Professor Steven Booth has been the biggest influence on me. He got me interested in law and taught me that morality and legality are not the same thing. Through his discussions of current events, he also taught me that value of learning throughout your life and being aware of both the past and the present.
I’ve been involved at SNHU by being a member of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), the Outing Club, and Admission Student Leaders. I’ve also participated in intramurals and gone to many campus activities, including BINGO and trivia nights.
I find working on groups projects to be most challenging for me. I have dealt with this by trying to step back and allow other people to work on things instead of taking over every aspect of my project. Several professors have helped me to better work with groups and talked with me about getting everyone to contribute equally.
I am proudest of my Eagle Scout project. I built a handicap ramp at a church in my town as my service project and I raised $1,700 to pay for supplies. I spent over 100 hours of my own time on it and I still smile when I drive by it knowing that it is a huge help to a small church that didn’t have the money for a new one.
Alumni have greatly helped me as a student. I went to interview for a job and the manager interviewing me was an alumna of my program which I think gave me the edge in getting the job. In addition, I received the School of Business Scholarship, which is funded by alumni, and it greatly helped to ease my financial burden. I have also learned a lot from guest speakers at FBLA who had great advice on career planning and time management.
I would tell an incoming student to be as active in the SNHU community as possible. The college experience is definitely what you make of it and the more involved you are, the more fun and opportunities you will have. Being involved has helped me make life-long friends and has also opened up many doors for me. The closeness of the community is one aspect of SNHU that really makes it different from other schools and I think that incoming students should take full advantage of it.
I plan to go into the financial sector and work in investment banking. I also hope to one day go to law school.
I think I will stay involved as an alumnus by participating in mock interviews and volunteering to speak to students about my career. Given the financial means, I would also like to be a scholarship donor in the future, as I see that as one of the most powerful ways to help students in today’s world.
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