Posted on May 8, 2021 by Wendy Frost
Always knowing that business was the path for her, San Antonio native Sally Sullivan began her career at UTSA after transferring from Texas A&M following her freshman year.
Unsure at first about her major, she was soon drawn to the field of finance after an internship experience she had with Rackspace as a sophomore.
A member of the Business Honors Program, she credits the program for positively impacting her experience at UTSA and allowing her to participate in many exclusive events.
“The honors courses that I took were invaluable,” said Sullivan, who will graduate this May with her bachelor’s degree in finance from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business. “I served as an ambassador for the program and gave presentations to prospective students. Before I had a crippling fear of public speaking, but I soon became confident in my communication skills.”
Sullivan also worked on campus as a supplemental instruction leader in microeconomics and was active with the Investment Society since Fall of 2019.
“The Investment Society made me a well-rounded financial professional both on the networking side and the technical side,” she said. “The classes that they offered gave me real-world experience and directly correlated to my internship experience. And through our current events discussions, I was able to discuss books and podcasts at networking events.”
At an on-campus networking event, she met USAA’s intern manager and soon received an internship offer for Summer 2020. At first, Sullivan was worried that the pandemic would disrupt those plans, but instead, she was able to complete her financial analyst internship virtually.
“I learned how to network virtually by being more proactive in communicating with my team,” she said. “I was given the assignment of revamping a project that included creating a new model using USAA technology. We retroactively tested it, and the model was successful.”
With the successful delivery of that project, Sullivan was offered a full-time role as a treasury management analyst on the Corporate Treasury team. “I’m really excited to start my career at USAA,” she said. “I can grow my career with USAA, and I’m impressed by how they value their employees.”
Sullivan’s long-term goals include working on her master’s degree and becoming certified as a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Commending faculty and staff for being readily available to help students—especially transfer students like herself—she said, “The staff and faculty are so invested in your success, and they really want to help you. Everything is here for you, you just need to take the initiative.”
While the past year has been challenging for everyone, Sally Sullivan doesn’t regret any of her UTSA experiences. “I wouldn’t change anything about my path. It was dynamic, and I am so grateful for where I am today. All the resources at UTSA were critical to my success.”
— Wendy Frost
