Savannah College of Art and Design
First-year Master’s student.
M.A. in Creative Business Leadership.
College-athlete.
The Savannah College of Art and Design is one of the most well renowned art and design schools in the world. In 2023, I began working towards a Master’s degree in Creative Business Leadership, a fairly new major offered by SCAD. After spending a year working in the wealth management industry, I discovered that it was an area that I can see myself spending my career in, however, I felt as if it would be the right decision to pursue further education before getting too deep into the industry. I found that the diverse range of skillsets that are used on a day-to-day basis within the financial industry would be enhanced and complemented by the emphasis of strategic thinking, financial planning and effective management taught in the School of Business Innovation here at SCAD.
So far, my experience at SCAD has been exceptional and is providing me with the skills and knowledge that I was looking to gain, and much more. From the implementation of design thinking into the business model canvas to a quarter-long, in depth, analysis project on a publicly traded company of our choosing, the program has enabled me to learn about my desired field at an accelerated rate.
While at SCAD, I have made it my purpose to be as involved in as many extra-curricular activities as possible. SCAD offers a fantastic program called SCAD AMP; SCAD AMP is a workshop series which consists of 18 one-hour interactive classes teaching students and alumni how to improve their communication skills by concentrating on speaking, visualising and connecting with a variety of audiences. I am two thirds of the way through this program and have developed communication skills in both formal and informal manners that I have never had the opportunity to break down and scrutinise in order to improve on before.
I am currently in the process of creating both an investment club and investment committee here at SCAD, which will be the first of its kind. With my experience in the wealth advice business, I have found that I love to teach people the best way to build their personal wealth through prudent investments. I saw a need of this service to other students who concentrate more on art and design and have very little experience in personal investments, but are eager to learn more. The investment club will be for these people; it will be a club teaching fellow students the basics of the stock market, the importance and how to diversify a portfolio, risk tolerance, and how to know when an investment is suitable for a specific individual or situation. The investment committee is planned to be a smaller group of students who have a higher level of interest in investments. The plan for the committee is to gain an a corporate sponsor and create a portfolio in which the committee will manage.
I am a member of the SCAD varsity cycling team which competes in the highest level of collegiate cycling nationwide. We train every day and travel almost every weekend during the season leading up to the national championships.