As a first-year student at Saint Mary’s, Tyler Lafferty hasn’t finalized his career goals yet, but he’s pretty sure he’d like to connect his love of sports and business and surround himself with people with the “same determination and drive” that he does.
That’s why he’s choosing to major in sports management and marketing and hopes to minor in public relations and digital media.
He chose Saint Mary’s to play hockey, but says, “the minute I stepped on campus I fell in love, to be completely honest.”
“First thing for me, it was about prioritizing my education, because hockey does end,” he added. “I liked the class sizes. It isn’t just lecture classes of 50 people, it’s more like 10-15 students. Here you have those one-on-one connections with professors, and they know your name, and they know you as a person. The business classrooms in Aquinas, which are new and appealing, were also a big part of it.”
Lafferty said college may seem like a scary place, but it’s not. “It’s a lot of responsibility on your own to figure out the person you want to be, but if there’s a place to be comfortable doing that, it’s here. There are so many activities, clubs, and groups, you can figure out your passion. You can fit in any way you want to fit in. There are always going to be people who share your same interests.
“Whoever you want to be, you can be here.”
