Congratulations to our 2021-2022 Scholarship Recipients

Career Aspirations

I love marketing and want a lifelong, long-term career in marketing. I like multiple areas of marketing such as content marketing, social media, product development and design and advertising. I would love to use my creative ideas to market products and services for a nationwide company.

Meaningful Experiences

One of the best programs I have been a part of is the United Prairie Bank Integrated Business Experience (IBE) at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The semester-long real-world experience has taught me all aspects of business and shaped me into a knowledgeable business professional. I learned all about planning, launching and operating an actual business. The connections I have made with my company members and the skills I have developed in leadership and communication are irreplaceable. I am also thankful for the opportunity to be so involved with marketing club and am proud to serve as President for the 21-22 school year. Also, I was a marketing intern for the dining services on campus and the experience was eye-opening. I had a great opportunity to use a lot of creative freedom and realized I also like the “behind-the-scenes” kind of marketing too. 

Message of Gratitude

I am grateful for the opportunity to receive the COB Marketing Faculty scholarship. I appreciate that there is a scholarship dedicated to marketing students because I think this major is very relevant and important for the future.

Career Aspirations

During my senior year of my undergraduate program, I was offered and accepted an internship at a local CPA firm, Eide Bailly. Throughout the internship experience, I learned how much I enjoy working in the tax area and meeting new people while on the projects. Being able to meet such caring and helpful associates, managers and partners have inspired me to pursue a career as a tax professional. As I consider my long-term aspirations, I want to work my way up within Eide Bailly to lead a tax team.

Meaningful Experiences

As I mentioned, I was offered an internship position at Eide Bailly. This has been a meaningful experience to me because it has shown me how quickly I have transformed from a student to a business professional. Before the internship, I was very nervous about starting my career because I had no idea what to expect from the professional world.  Now, four months later, I  gained knowledge about business communications, operations, and the industry of accounting and tax.  Another meaningful experience that I have had is volunteering. Before starting college, I had more time to volunteer with my family. This helped me understand the importance of caring about others and helping when we can. It also made me grateful for all I have and reminded me that I should never forget about the people in tougher situations.

Message of Gratitude

I want to express my appreciation of the generous gift!  When I was notified that I had been chosen for the Lynette McCue Scholarship, I was overwhelmed and excited. This past spring I started an internship at a local accounting firm which has been a wonderful experience and made me realize how important it is to continue my education. This scholarship means I can begin my master’s degree next fall. Once I complete the 30 credits with the master’s of accounting program, I plan to start studying for the CPA exam. With this assistance, my goals can be obtained and my career in accounting will be attainable. I am very thankful that donors are willing to help strangers achieve their goals.  Thank you so much for the support!

Career Aspirations

As a finance major, my goal is to one day work in financial planning and risk analysis. I enjoy working with others and hope I can have the opportunity to help people with their financial security. 

Meaningful Experiences

I have been lucky enough to experience many meaningful learning opportunities in my life so far. I participated in the United Prairie Bank Integrated Business Experience (IBE) where I was the CFO of our company start-up. This experience taught me how to work with strangers building a company out of nothing and what it takes to successfully maintain a business. The leadership role in our company helped teach me the relevance of strong management within a company and gave me a better idea of the requirements of starting my own business. This is something I hope to someday apply to my own career when starting a financial advising firm.

Message of Gratitude

I would like to express my extreme gratitude for receiving this scholarship. As a student who is responsible for funding tuition and living costs, the monetary value helps me in ways far greater than just payment. Most importantly, I am thankful for the support and for believing in my current and hopefully future success. Awards like these are what help students feel a sense of reassurance that all the hard work and dedication they have put into school and graduate preparation are for good reason and will pay off. This award is that exact reassurance for me. These types of achievements are what will most stick with me as I continue my academic and professional pursuit. 

Career Aspirations

My career aspirations are to succeed in everything that I do. I will strive to do my best through any challenge that comes my way throughout my career. After I complete my undergraduate, I will then go on to find a job that benefits my best qualities. In the near future I plan to get my master’s degree in accounting. My aspirations in my career are to work for a company that will allow me to grow while doing something that I love. 

Meaningful Experiences

An experience for me that has been meaningful was being on my high school golf team. I had amazing coaches that pushed me to work my hardest every practice and meet. I learned a lot of great golf tips as well as life lessons on my golf career. My coach taught me, and in golf for the next great swing is the most important swing. That statement means that no matter how bad you hit the last ball you are able to fix it by being better the next swing. I relate this to life since no matter your circumstances you are able to turn them around for a better future. Golf was a great experience since it is an individual sport that all of the time and work you put into it is a personal accomplishment. Yet golf is still a team sport since everyone’s personal victories can result in a team win. Overall, I had a great time being on the golf team due to my great coaches.

Message of Gratitude

Thank you for the generous gift of the scholarship. I appreciate this gift which will help me continue my education at Minnesota State Mankato. I continue to work during the school year which is not always easy to find a balance of work and school. I feel a great sense of stress come off my shoulders with the scholarship since it will benefit my financial needs. Thank you again for your thoughtful and generous gift.

Career Aspirations

I would like to have my own business, but first I will work for a couple companies to gain experience on how to run business in real life. I will work for a few years to make some money to start my own business.

Meaningful Experiences

I started working in the school dining center in September 2019. I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of students from all over the world. It is very fun working there and the schedule is very flexible.

Message of Gratitude

I am very grateful for being selected to receive this scholarship.  I am thankful this opportunity.

Career Aspirations

I would like to potentially go to graduate school for business administration, and then later on open my own business in Milwaukee, WI. I am considering a restaurant, because I have worked in several restaurants over the past few years and know the industry well. However, I also want to do something that will allow me to help others, and potentially would like to work for a non-profit at some point!

Meaningful Experiences

I have worked as a marketing assistant in the College of Business and have been the Philanthropy Chair and Public Relations Vice President for Gamma Phi Beta. Working on the marketing team for the COB has been the best job and has allowed me to have real-world experiences about what marketing and event planning is like! I also have volunteered as a Girls on the Run coach through the YWCA. These have been amazing experiences allowed me to meet so many new people and make great connections!

Message of Gratitude

I am thankful for this opportunity to continue my education! It is such an honor to receive a scholarship and have people believe in me. I am excited to finish my education at Minnesota State University, Mankato throughout the next two years.

Career Aspirations

My career aspirations are to do social media marketing for a company. I love taking photos and videos creating content for a company or brand to use. I got to experience this in the United Prairie Bank Integrated Business Experience (IBE) last semester allowing me to create and post content for our brand. Combining my creative skills with marketing is where I see my future headed. Later on, down the line, I’m going to have a marketing firm for small businesses. I think this would be super fun because it’d be helping small business owners bring in more sales. Also, watching their business grow and being part of that would be rewarding.

Meaningful Experiences

When I think of a meaningful experience, I think of the biggest lesson I learned from it and what sticks with me today. My experience is with the internship I did last summer with College Works Painting. I managed, marketed, and sold for a painting business throughout the summer.  I was thankful to learn managerial skills.

Message of Gratitude

I am thankful for the Paul & Diane Hanson Entrepreneurship Scholarship. This means a lot to me. This scholarship helps me further my education, lift a financial weight off my shoulders, and be successful at Minnesota State University, Mankato. This scholarship allows me to focus on my education furthering me along my path. 

Career Aspirations

For my career I aspire to be a financial planner/advisor to help others who don’t know much about the world of finance. I interned at Northwestern Mutual and gained very valuable experience working with experienced advisors and clients.  To be able to help others with their finances so they can feel confident, excited, and satisfied about their financial goals would be my ultimate goal.  Building relationships, gaining trust, and being actively engaged with the finance sector will be key to being successful in my future career.

Meaningful Experiences

There have been many experiences that have shaped the type of person I am today. In high school, I was fortunate enough to win two state hockey championships and create a special bond with my teammates. The relationships that were built over my hockey career and especially those two seasons were absolutely special. Playing on those teams taught me that by working hard and building relationships with my teammates that I can put myself in a position to achieve great things. Another experience that has been very meaningful to me is my job at Venture Fireworks. At Venture Fireworks there is an incredibly fun, exciting, and fast-paced environment along with an owner who is someone all employees look up to and respect. He purposely hires high school and college students, which for most of them is their first job. He trains each employee showing them the most efficient and effective way to work. From stocking, pricing, selling to customers, and running the cash register, he makes sure each employee is well rounded and is able to handle any task. He is someone I truly admire and I strive to be as generous and supportive as he is.

Message of Gratitude

I am thankful for this Finance Scholarship that will support me not only for the rest of my college education but will give me a head start into my career.  With this generous gift, it takes an enormous load of stress off my back and will allow me to focus on learning the ins and outs of becoming a financial advisor! Once again, I can’t express how grateful I am for this generosity and I hope that I can be in the same position in the future and help students like me!

Career Aspirations

My career aspirations consist of starting my own business. I feel like post-pandemic there will be more small businesses than ever, which is why I want to start a graphic design/marketing firm specifically for those new startup businesses. I also would like to implement a very strong internship program to support both high schoolers and college-aged students so they can get experience directly in their field of choice.

Meaningful Experiences

Throughout my college experience, I’ve had many meaningful experiences. My top experiences come from my sorority and my jobs. My sorority, Gamma Phi Beta is one of the nearest and dearest things to my heart, it has provided me with so many gateways to improve myself, learn, and create everlasting relationships. These people have been there for me during the highest and the lowest points that I have ever experienced and I cannot thank them enough. In regard to my two jobs, my boss Jen is the most amazing, caring, and knowledgeable person I know. She never fails to help me learn and improve my business skills in all facets. My second job, Amy from Amy’s Cupcake Shoppe, has taught me to be loyal and just what it means to have good customer service, speaking, and people skills. Amy took me in when my life was going in an undesired direction and acted like I was part of her family. I would simply not be who I am today without all the amazing people who helped me to get to this point.

Message of Gratitude

I truly am thankful for this scholarship to help me achieve my dreams. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to the donors for believing in me. I hope our paths cross in the future and I can thank you in person.

Career Aspirations

Post-graduation, I aspire to earn a master of accounting degree and sit for the CPA exams. After I obtain my CPA licensure, I intend to work in public accounting as an auditor and advance in my career from there. 

Meaningful Experiences

In my time at Minnesota State University, Mankato, I have been involved in multiple programs on campus. In particular, my experiences with the MavPASS program have been increasingly rewarding and meaningful. I get to work with other students and faculty on a personal level while helping my peers achieve their academic goals. It has challenged me to become a better leader and a resource for students taking accounting classes. In addition to my work with MavPASS, I am involved with the Minnesota State Mankato Women’s Track and Field team. My experiences on the team have pushed me to become the best version of myself, both athletically and academically. Athletics incorporate a multitude of skills that can be utilized in the workplace such as time management, critical thinking and the ability to accept constructive criticism. Developing these skills over my athletic career has greatly contributed to my success as a student. Overall, I am grateful for the opportunity to be involved in these programs, they have given me a meaningful purpose on campus.

Message of Gratitude

I am immensely grateful to have received the Accounting Senior of the Year Award! I truly appreciate the generous gift that will allow me to invest more of my time both on campus and in the community. It is because generous donors, I am able to pursue my career aspirations to the fullest. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Career Aspirations

My aspirations as an ongoing Minnesota State University, Mankato student are to receive both a Bachelor and Master of Accounting degree.  While I am still unsure what my dream career is exactly, I am striving to earn the position as a partner in one of the Big 4 Accounting firms thanks to the accordance of my KPMG internship. 

Meaningful Experiences

I have always been an active student who participated in an abundance of activities/programs that this University provided, such as the Latinx Student Union (LSU) and the United Prairie Bank Integrated Business Experience (IBE). These activities have allowed me to learn and understand more about what it takes to be an excellent team member to achieve prosperous results. The relationships that I was fortunate enough to establish during these programs have helped me to feel comfortable and adapt to new settings. 

Message of Gratitude

By all means, I am entirely grateful and humbled that I was able to receive this scholarship. As a first-generation college student who comes from a household where parents earn minimum wage, the worry of wondering how I am able to fund my education often creeps into my mind, and on more than one occasion made me question my role as a university student and if I made a smart choice enrolling as one. Although I work tirelessly in the summer and often work many hours during the school semesters to help keep me financially stable, I rely heavily on financial aid (FAFSA, grants, scholarships) to allow me to continue being a student here at Minnesota State University, Mankato. With the help of this scholarship, it has ensured me that I have a fighting chance to keep continuing my role as a student and grant me the opportunity to prove to myself that I will be successful and graduate with flying colors

Career Aspirations

My career aspiration is to be a business owner someday.  I’ve grown up on a cattle farm growing corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and oats.  I would like to invest in my dad’s farm so I can continue to produce healthy beef and the bi-products created from our steers.  I like the idea of being conservative and resourceful with what we have now and the land we farm.  The past year I’ve also been working for an independent lumber yard in Slayton, MN.  The 2 owners Tom Klein and Troy Wehking have been great at teaching me the industry and how it affects so many additional factors in our economy.  I would also like to be heavily involved in operating the lumber yard when my opportunity comes.  Wherever my aspirations take me I know it will be involved in agriculture and agribusiness.

Meaningful Experiences

It’s been 2 years now since I’ve been a part of the Henze Ag Innovator program at Minnesota State University, Mankato, but those months in that program opened my eyes to all that agriculture is.  Seeing the opportunities within large companies was fascinating to me and I enjoyed how much change they create in their careers.  For me though, working for a small business is what I want to do.  I want to have a culture that is reflective of who I am and what I want to accomplish.  Also, in the past few semesters, I’ve worked with professors and students in the College of Business.  We have worked on collecting data, creating design thinking models, creating surveys, analyzing data with statistical software, and many other endeavors.  These experiences are what you hope to do when you come to college.  You hope to learn something.  You hope to engage with people in the community and collaborate with each other.  Taking on real-world problems and collecting physical data is a great feeling.  Being able to collaborate with others has been the best part of college even though this past year has been mostly online.  I look forward to being able to continue working with students and professors as I near the end of my college experience.

Message of Gratitude

I am grateful to have been chosen and received the Stuart and Ann Sneer Agribusiness Scholarship. 

Career Aspirations

Upon graduating from Minnesota State University, Mankato, I aspire to utilize the multiple degrees I’d have obtained over my four-year program (majors in business management and marketing, with a minor in entrepreneurship and Certificate in business analytics) to secure a job in the corporate business world to create strategic marketing plans that would help businesses with their marketing and promotional needs. Once I’ve saved up enough money from this work experience, I seek to use it to fulfill my lifelong dream of completing a master’s degree at Standford University. Though the timeline for this plan is extremely flexible and the locations for which I plan to travel to are yet to be decided, upon completing my master’s degree, I plan to use the concept of design thinking over a sabbatical wherein I will travel, identify problems that could be solved in the different locations that I plan to go to, and then use an entrepreneurial mindset to therefore solve said problems.

Meaningful Experiences

I have had a multitude of meaningful experiences over the years, both back home in Hong Kong as well as over the course of the last three years here in the U.S. More closely aligned to the world of business, I have had multiple opportunities to apply my knowledge to execute business plans and produce and sell products. Starting my journey in 11th grade, I took part in the world-renowned Junior Achievement program. Having formed a group of 20 like-minded students, we produced and sold hats pertaining to social issues in Hong Kong. More recently, in my previous academic year at Minnesota State University, Mankato a group of 19 other business students and I worked together under a project sponsored by United Prairie Bank to apply our knowledge to planning, launching, and operating an actual business in which I successfully worked the role as the company’s Director of Sales and Marketing. Both these experiences helped me gain leadership skills, an entrepreneurial mindset, and hands-on experience that I believe employers look for in new hires. Alongside my experiential opportunities in applying classroom knowledge, I have had opportunities to demonstrate my leadership skills through engaging in work and volunteer opportunities on campus. From working in high-pressure situations at Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Department of Security (where having worked with them for the last three years I have recently been promoted to a student lead position), to working as a community advisor in the residential halls on campus for a year where I had the opportunity to mentor 40+ students with their academic and social pursuits, to serving under two leadership positions in the 2020-2021 academic year’s 88th Student Government. I have been able to demonstrate and hone my critical thinking, interpersonal and leadership skills (among others) that I believe will truly help guide me on the path to success in the years to come. On a more personal level, with the fact that I decided to come to the U.S. to experience a culture that has many differences in comparison to that of my own, I have taken advantage of my breaks and weekends here to travel to quite a few different states while also engaging in meaningful conversations with peers, classmates, and others to enrich my perspective on the world around me. Doing this has also given me the opportunity to continue to develop my hobby and passion for photography, an outlet that I’ve found that has truly allowed me to express my creativity.

Message of Gratitude

Words cannot describe how truly grateful I am to have been acknowledged for my work and to have someone believe in my abilities as a student so much so that they’d sponsor part of my educational experience here in the United States. Being awarded this scholarship has had such an impact on me and will serve as a boost to push me to continue working as hard as I can to reach my goals, both short-term and long-term. Thank you so much for this symbol of faith in me. It is truly an honor to be selected for the Verone Nelson Service Scholarship.

Career Aspirations

In the future, I aspire to change others’ lives and truly make a difference. In the years, during COVID, I started an e-commerce jewelry business and I loved the whole process. After starting that business I realized that I want to do more good in the world. My ideal career would be something that serves others while being something that I truly enjoy and wouldn’t work a dime for. I love all things marketing, creativity, and working with others. I would love to start a business one day that allows me to help others and use my creativity.

Meaningful Experiences

Minnesota State University, Mankato has brought so many meaningful experiences to me in my time here as a student. One meaningful experience that comes to mind is the National Diversity Case Competition with the Kelley Institute of Business. We were given a case from 3M. 3M’s case was on how they could implement STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) to a diverse community. My group and I chose to work with the tribal communities as our target group. Our studies involved traveling to two tribal reservations to talk to the education council on the reservations to further our studies. I am proud to say that we, Minnesota State University- Mankato earned 4th place out of 42 very prestigious schools. This experience was so meaningful to me because I was able to grow my interpersonal skills and learn more about how to work with a team, while also working towards something that could make a large impact on others' lives.

Message of Gratitude

I am honored and thankful to be one of this year’s recipients of the Daren & Sarah Cotter Entrepreneurial Scholarship.  Because of this honor, I have a weight that has been lifted off my shoulders. I now can put more of my focus and energy towards achieving my full potential in college, rather than worrying about how I’m going to pay for school. This scholarship will help my family and I out so much.  I am forever thankful. 

Career Aspirations

My goal after graduation is to work for an external advertisement agency. I would love to support startup businesses run marketing campaigns and help them to understand the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns. With a BS degree in marketing, in combination with a graphic design minor and business analytics certificate, I hope to be able to use both my analytical and creative brain to draft and mock up advertisements. I also hope to help the company that I work for effectively analyze various campaigns and promotional mediums.

Meaningful Experiences

In college, I became more involved on campus as a sophomore, I joined Delta Sigma Pi and started working for a pilot program which is now called MavPASS. To start, I pledged and became a new brother in Delta Sigma Pi, a professional business fraternity the fall of my sophomore year. Since then, I have served as Vice President Professional Activities for the chapter for a year and Senior Vice President for one semester. I recently was nominated and am serving as the President.  Moving onto MavPASS (Maverick Peer-facilitated Academic Support System), I really developed my communication skills by hosting study sessions and using facilitation and redirecting questions to help students perform well in their courses. MavPASS has seen tremendous growth since my start in the fall of 2019 and I am happy to be a part of this wonderful program.

Message of Gratitude

When I received an email saying congratulations from the Scholarship Finder, I was ecstatic to hear such good news!  Thank you for believing in me and supporting my future endeavors! I will be forever touched by this act and words cannot express my gratitude for this opportunity as finish by last year of college. It’s these acts of support that keep me striving towards excellence and motivate me to be my best self every day. Thank you so much!

Career Aspirations

While in school I am growing my own lawn care and landscaping company.  I’d like to see where I can take my company by the time I graduate. I am not sure if my company will become my career but it is a great first-hand business learning experience. I am also participating in an internship at Kibble equipment. A larger career aspiration I have is to work for the John Deere Company.  Whether I work for Deere in the Turf department with my experience in the green industry as a landscaper, or if I work in another area of Deere I would love the opportunity. Growing up in Southern Minnesota agriculture has always been an interest of mine. I enjoy being outside and working with plants and equipment, so however I can be a part of this industry I am going to give it a try.

Meaningful Experiences

I believe that my work experiences have been most meaningful to me. This is where I have met the most new people and connected with a diverse range of people. I have only had two jobs so far in my life. While working at my church as a part-time janitor, I quickly learned about responsibility and time management. Most of the time I was a janitor for weddings and funerals, so I was tasked with preparing the building and grounds for the event, (unlock doors, turn on lights, A/C, parking signs, sound system, tables, chairs, etc). Many of these tasks needed to be done quickly and correct so the event would go smoothly. But while working these events I got to meet and work with people at their peaks of emotion, from death or from marriage.  This helped me build social skills and empathy when working with others. In my own business, I build relationships everyday. Working with existing customers, potential clients, material suppliers, and other local businesses. I value positive relationships because these are what save you when you need help. I have a great relationship with my material supplier that helps me if I am running late from a job and need them to be open late or if I need more time to pay off a larger debt with them.

Message of Gratitude

I am grateful for the generous gift of this scholarship. I am passionate about agriculture and am working towards being a part of the agribusiness industry for my career.  Although I am working while in school, this scholarship will be a huge help in my success as a student. I very much appreciate your donation.