Get to know Clayton Titzer '23, finance. He is currently working on his MBA with a concentration in Data Analytics.
Why did you choose USI?
I chose USI for several reasons. The most influential aspect of USI for me was the class sizes and hometown feeling. I enjoy being able to go to class and the instructor recognizes me because I had him the semester before and there’s only about 20 other people in the class. Being greeted in the hallways by classmates I’ve shared a classroom with multiple times and the closer sense of community were what brought me to USI. I also found that it was more conducive to my learning when I recognized an instructor and could anticipate how they would lead the course.
Why did you choose Romain College of Business?
I actually started my career at USI with the goal of being Pre-Occupational Therapy but focused myself on business courses because I wanted to open my own OT practice. After the first semester I found myself looking forward to my business courses more than the healthcare, so I made the switch.
Why did you choose your major?
I chose finance for a number of reasons, but what decided it for me were the different methods and scenarios that finance could prove beneficial. I felt that I could use finance’s ability to analyze the health of a business while also weighing the costs and benefits of certain financial decisions to my benefit. I enjoyed learning about the financial ratios and what insight they can lend to tell you about a business. My favorite lens of finance is definitely entrepreneurial. I really enjoyed drilling down into how a company may finance their startup and project their financials before they even got started.
What is something that surprised you about college?
What surprised me about college was the ability to set my own path, within reason, and choose the courses that best suited my interests. Even within the core courses, there exists variability and room to decide what class might be the best fit. I was also surprised by just how many people I had met and shared multiple classes with throughout the years. It makes the classroom setting more comfortable and familiar when the people in there are friendly faces.
What skills from your education at USI are most relevant/helpful to your current job?
Two of the greatest skills that college taught me were critical thinking and personal accountability. Learning to properly think through issues and obstacles has empowered me to get more work done without getting blocked by scenarios I can solve myself. Often this may lead me to researching the issue at hand, but the ability to go search out solutions myself has been a great skill to learn. With personal accountability, this is something that I had to learn in order to succeed in college. There are no checks that work has been done and very little or no reminders when work items are due. This forced me to learn how to manage my responsibilities effectively and efficiently.
What are some of your favorite business classes?
My absolute favorite business classes were entrepreneurial finance and international finance. Both proved to be more labor intensive than other courses, but the content was the most intriguing to me. Learning about the startup financing of a company and how they use projected sales to build a projection of their first-year financial statements was great. I enjoyed international finance because it was challenging, but once I got the methodology down it was interesting to learn about how companies use foreign currencies to either increase their revenue or reduce risk when dealing with international commerce.
Tell us about your career goals. Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?
I believe in taking a shot at any potential opportunity to learn and grow as a professional, so my long-term goals are cloudy. I want to explore the different sectors and positions that finance has to offer. Following an internship I participated in summer 2023, I am working for a digital transformation team at a financial institution, and it is very interesting. I’m learning the intricacies of project management and change management, as well as the world of Robotic Process Automation. Eventually, outside of my professional career, I want to develop a company as my own and work as an entrepreneur, possibly in the digital transformation industry.
What advice do you have for this fall’s incoming freshmen? What do you wish someone had told you?
I wish someone would have told me just how important it is to be on campus and within the community of other students. My freshman year I was forced into doing this by living on campus, but that was the best decision I ever made. I built lasting friendships with people I would have otherwise never met had I not spent a good amount of time on campus. The same goes for the faculty at USI. Connect with the instructors and introduce yourself; they will end up becoming great connections and be able to offer more than just course instruction.
Favorite flavor of ice-cream:
Strawberry
Published April 19, 2024