Jeff Hughes CLASS OF '09

Junior

Hometown: Andover, Minnesota

Major: Economics, with a specialization in business

When Jeff Hughes came to SDSU, he didn’t expect to work with businesspeople; he had a pharmacy degree in his sights. “But early on, my advisor noticed something,” he recalls. “I was doing fine in my science classes, but I was taking a lot of microeconomics courses—and really loving them.” This insight prompted Jeff to switch majors. He couldn’t be happier with his classes now—especially Money and Banking with Dr. Joe Santos. “He relates the work to current events, and he always has a funny story ready,” says Jeff. “He’s amazing.”

It’s no surprise that a commercialization analyst would already have a detailed career plan in place. For Jeff, this means two years in the Peace Corps, followed by 10 years as a financial advisor. Then, back to college to become a high school teacher. “I know all those things are within reach,” he says. “You don’t just learn coursework here. You make great connections. Your faculty and advisors share their wisdom with you, and they take pride in helping you figure out what you want to do.  They’ll do anything to help you get where you want to go.”

Jeff is also taking advantage of study abroad opportunities at SDSU that get him where he wants to go while he’s here. Last spring, Jeff went on a three-week trip to West Africa for course credit. And he plans to return to Africa in the fall where he will spend an entire semester in Senegal studying French.