Ryan Despard

“I’ve known since my sophomore year of high school that I wanted to go into accounting. I love numbers, so it just made sense for me. The Blue and Gold Scholars Program gave me the opportunity to attend M State for free, which was a big reason I chose to come here.

It’s been going good. I’m taking 17 credits, with four online classes and three in-person classes, so it’s a lot, but all of my instructors are really nice. Mrs. (Angela) Hartman, my macroeconomics instructor, does a really good job of breaking things down and making them easier to understand.

I feel like you get more of a connection with your instructors here because of the student-to-teacher ratio; I have a maximum of about 15 students in each of my classes. You’re really able to get to know your instructors and get individual attention.

I’m from Henning, Minnesota, and in addition to school, I have an on-campus job and work in accounting at a gas station in Battle Lake. I’ll graduate from M State this year and then transfer to a university – hopefully Concordia College, through the Blue and Gold Scholars transfer program – to continue studying accounting. My plan is to keep working toward becoming a CPA.”