What Our Former Students Are Saying About the Business Academy
My name is Emily Neill. I was in the Finance Academy in the graduating class of 2011. The personal finance skills that I learned in the Academy have helped me the most. The spreadsheet I currently use to budget my personal finances is actually similar to the spreadsheet that I used when learning about personal finances in my first year of the Finance Academy. My fiancé and I are buying a house this month. The knowledge I gained all those years ago about budgeting, check writing, investing, loans, interest, and banking has given me a great advantage when saving for a home and starting the house-buying process.
The Finance Academy continues to impact me today in my profession. I have a master's degree in social work. People typically wouldn't think that social workers would have to deal with finance too much, but my knowledge of it has been incredibly helpful! I was miles ahead of other students when I took non-profit financial management/accounting in graduate school. I have worked in foster care, homelessness, and I now work at an HIV/AIDS service organization. I realized my passion for working in nonprofits with vulnerable populations back in high school. I was allowed to do my Finance Academy internship with a non-profit learning about managing charitable funds. I even won a scholarship from the National Academy Foundation for a presentation I did about my internship! I really appreciated the opportunity the Academy gave me to apply what I was learning in my classes to what I was passionate about. I use the knowledge I learned in the Finance Academy every day as a social worker when applying for grants, managing program funding, budgeting for programs, reporting to donors, and much more. I would absolutely choose to join the Finance Academy again! I am grateful for such a great opportunity so early in life! |
William Judy - The Hoover Finance Academy has helped me get where I am today in more ways than I could have imagined when going through the Academy in high school. I’m currently completing a three-month internship with RSM at their Birmingham office which is, coincidentally, where I had the opportunity to compete in the Junior Achievement Business Plan Challenge as part of my entrepreneurship class my senior year (funny how things come full circle). The fundamentals I learned in Mrs. Gregg’s accounting class helped carry me through my upper-level accounting classes, and I use them to this day on the job. The typing and ten-key skills I learned as a freshman in Mrs. Moncus’ class have proven valuable, not only through college, but when creating work paper, emails, and so much more. Lastly, the soft skills I learned in Mrs. Smith’s class have been some of the most valuable lessons I have carried with me since graduating from high school. I learned how to interview, shake someone’s hand, present in front of an audience, and learned how to be confident in myself. All of these reasons combined have, without a doubt, helped me prepare for my current position.
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Rachel Geisler - As a freshman at the University of South Carolina, I can say the Business Academy has prepared me for college by teaching me so much about budgeting my finances. It has also given me a head start on many classes, such as accounting, which I have to take for my major, fashion merchandising. The Academy also showed me that I want my future career to be in the retail and the fashion industry by allowing me the opportunity to complete an internship at a gift and clothing boutique between my junior and senior year. Through the Business Academy, I had the opportunity to join the DECA club, which gave me leadership experience through an officer position and allowed me to work on my public speaking and problem-solving skills. Many experiential learning opportunities, such as the field trip to the Tennessee Titans stadium, taught me a lot and has prepared me for the classes in my event management minor. The opportunities are truly endless in the Business Academy, and I highly recommend joining it.
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Austin Ingram - Taking the Internet Marketing course my junior year gave me a head start on many of the skills I use today. After taking a break from college where I was a Business major and taking several Marketing classes much like the ones from high school, I recently started a career in real estate. Now that I’m working in real estate, I am running my own business and using social media marketing skills in my everyday life. I honestly owe a lot to this course. One of the most important things I took away from the class was the entrepreneurial mindset. I never liked the idea of working for someone else. Internet Marketing showed me different aspects of running my own business so that one day I wouldn’t have to work for someone else.
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My name is Benjamin White. I’m currently a senior at San Diego State University graduating in May with a degree in International Business. I graduated from Hoover High in 2016. The courses that I took prepared me for success in college. Business Management Principles opened the door for me to be nationally competitive. I became a better public speaker, gained insight on the real-world, and had a blast while doing it! I also highly recommend taking Internet Marketing, because frankly, it’s the future. I told many peers at my university that I had the opportunity to take this class and they were in awe. What I learned in that class helped me get ahead of the game. Mrs. Kimble helped us get our resumes in check, our LinkedIn’s looking superb, and even GoogleAdwords certifications (which is HUGE). Also, learning SEO and bringing in speakers was such an awesome experience. The openness of the class truly made it an enjoyable and prosperous environment. The options and courses that Hoover gives to its students entering into the business world is really something you should take advantage of!
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