As seen in the Parkersburg News & Sentinal
Brandon Galici graduated from West Liberty University in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance. The diploma is something nice to hang on the wall while he trains for his job with Edward Jones.
However, what he will also be able to hang on his wall others won’t are business awards from the Phi Beta Lambda National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, Calif. Galici received first place in personal finance and fifth in financial concepts.
Phi Beta Lambda is an American career and technical student organization designed to be help students move from college into the professional world.
“It was a very good showing for myself and West Liberty,” he said. “This was only our second year having a Phi Beta Lambda chapter and we were happy with the results; we placed in seven of nine categories. While it is good for me individually, the results really establish the reputation of West Liberty’s ability nationally to provide a good education in the business field. I loved my time at West Liberty.”
Galici said the pair of hour long tests were 100 multiple choice questions. “Some of the questions were just basic finance such as ‘what increases a person’s credit score,’ he said, “to questions an average person would ask if they were seeking personal finance help.
“It tests your knowledge about financial concepts, investments,” he continued.
The first two years Galici was into sports broadcasting and was one of the voices of West Liberty sports. Then came the fall of 2015 and it all changed.
“That’s when I met the finance professors going into my junior year and my interest in finance just skyrocketed,” he said. “I had been leaning to business but in finance, I found my passion.” Passion led to an overall 3.62 grade point average.
“I took ‘taxation of business entities,’ with Dr. Michael Blackwell which I didn’t have to have. I just took it because it was a finance class,” he said. “They told me no one takes that class unless they have to. Turns out I’m a business nerd.”
But ‘business nerd’ doesn’t mean one likes math — far from it. “I wanted math with a purpose,” he said. “I didn’t want to solve a problem just for the sheer fun of finding ‘X’. That’s not fun to me. Finding ‘X’ represents what you can do with it. ‘X’ is traveling. Traveling to see your kids. ‘X’ is having a lifestyle. ‘X’ is buying a home. X’ is potential.”
The road map for Galici has been put in place for the next nine months. “Three months of training in Bloomington, Ind., and six months in St. Louis,” he said. “Then, hopefully, into Pittsburgh in mid-2018. And Pittsburgh,” he sighs, “is only an hour from Wheeling. I loved West Liberty. I was an ambassador for West Liberty. Can you tell?” he said and laughed.
