Sawyer Lee is a junior from Pierre, South Dakota majoring in Business Economics with a minor in Land Valuation. On campus Lee is a member and treasurer for the SDSU fishing team, a member of the Investment club, an Ambassador for the Ness School of Management and Economics.
While Lee came to SDSU for the wonderful campus and faculty he does note that it is important to get a good coat for the winter.
The SDSU Business Department is a wonderful fit for Lee as he realizes business is everywhere with so many opportunities and he has always loved managing money. Some of his favorite classes include all the Business Law courses as well as Money and Banking. Lee states, “The business law courses gave me a better understanding of my constitutional rights as well as the legal environment around the business world. Money and banking helped me better understand the banking and monetary system which is great because I want to go into Commercial lending after college.”
Also, while at school Lee has been inspired by many faulty members with the two people he feels inspired him the most are Dr. Santos and Ryan McKnight. Lee states, “Dr. Santos was one of the most enthusiastic professors I’ve had, and he did a great job making sure the class knew the content of the class. Ryan McKnight is another professor who inspired me to get into the real estate program. On top of that, Ryan always does everything in his power to help his students. Ryan goes the extra mile to make sure his students have connections to future employers and offers so many networking opportunities to his students.”
His connections and knowledge gain from SDSU helped him get an internship with Dacotah Bank this last summer where he gained a much more in-depth understanding of the banking world and all the different moving parts that are involved with making a bank operate. He also got to dive deeper into Commercial Lending as well as Trust and Wealth Management and had many networking opportunities and made a lot of very valuable connections.
Lee feels that his biggest regret so far in college is not getting involved in clubs and campus events earlier in his college career. However, he has made many new friends and valuable connections that will suit you well in your future life. His future plans include staying around South Dakota and working as a Commercial Lender for a Community Bank while also getting involved in real estate.