Micaela Whalen

’16 Business Administration, Concentration in Corporate Accounting & Finance

I transferred into SJSU having no idea of what I wanted my concentration in the College of Business to be. I had no internship experience—all I held were retail jobs in high school and community college. I wasn't an Honors student at the time. I didn't know anyone in the College of Business.

I'm not sure whether it was the pure excitement of being a university student, or the pressure to stand out amongst my peers that motivated me—but something inside my brain triggered and it was go-time immediately once I arrived on campus. I quickly decided my major and was enthralled by a curiosity for Finance. I joined the FMA business club and instantly knew it was going to be a platform for me to engage with more of my peers, connect deeper with classmates, and find a meaningful internship.

I felt so much power as an SJSU student. Not the type of power you feel when you're a tyrant leader—the type of power you feel when there are endless opportunities for you to succeed; the type of power when your intellectual curiosity is nourished... and it's a very distinct feeling of power when those two things are combined, and you're surrounded by like-minded students in an environment where each of you are—in that vey moment—shaping the course of your own journey.

It's not enough to say SJSU transformed my life. At one point in time, SJSU was my entire life—and I've never really had a platform to thank everyone who I met along that journey. I appreciate every single person—professors, peers, staff, alum—who aided in my success during my time at SJSU.

Without you all, my story would be entirely different.