Home Town: Oakhurst, California
Major: International Business

Business is a competitive field—but when Brittany chose her major, she had no idea she’d be competing in it even before her senior year. As a member of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), she is on an award-winning team that develops projects ranging from financial literacy programs for local children to sponsoring startup businesses in poor areas of Latin America. She and her teammates were regional champs in their first year as a chapter, and won “Rookie of the Year” at nationals in Texas. 

Brittany’s interest in business was sparked by her grandfather, who worked his way up in a Los Angeles company. “He started at 18 delivering water and moved up to district manager,” she says. “He was later the president of a water company and he had no formal education beyond high school.”

Growing up near the entrance of Yosemite National park, Brittany gained early experience in the hospitality and customer service industry, working at a European-style luxury hotel and restaurant. Before deciding which area of business to enter after graduation, she wants to try out different settings. She will complete two internships: one at J.C. Penney and one in a government or non-profit agency in Washington, D.C.

Brittany wanted to go to an east coast college, and heard about Saint Anselm from the friend of a Boston cousin, who said it had “great placement for its business graduates.” It was the last one added to her list of campus visits, but it became her first choice.

“I thought it was beautiful. It was the middle of winter when I came, and I was just mesmerized by the snow, the architecture, and the friendly campus,” she says. “This was exactly what I’d always pictured when I thought of college.”

Outside of class and SIFE activities, Brittany works in the Academic Resource Center and is “a big scary movie fan.” When she goes home to California, she gets together with friends for a hike up the back side of Yosemite’s famous Half Dome.

As for future plans, she says, “I’d like to work for a large international firm sometime, and I’d love to own my own business.”