Eavan Thomas

Prior to graduation and feeling unsure of which business path to follow, Thomas began management classes at University of North Georgia (UNG). After taking Principles of Finance, everything clicked.

"Finance is an invaluable trait no matter what you plan on doing. Since it was something that I naturally understood, finance was a really clear path for me," she said.

Once she was ready for upper-level courses, she transitioned from UNG's Gainesville Campus to the Dahlonega Campus — and graduated with a bachelor's degree in finance a semester early.

"It used to be that a finance person was just a number cruncher and all to themselves," Thomas said. "But, that's not the case anymore. Leaders are starting to flatten companies, and the business world is starting to have fewer defining departments. Finance people are embedded in every aspect of a company. That's why communication skills are becoming so important."

For her finance honors thesis, she studied how children's allowances — and how they received and managed them — impacted their adult financial standing later as adults.

"Through my honors volunteering, I taught high school financial literacy classes. I was really interested to learn how those childhood financial foundations translated to adulthood," she said.

Thomas developed her passion for community service through extracurricular activities and the honor society. She went from teaching local high school students how to manage money to teaching children on a mission trip in Malaysia.

"I never considered myself an extremely social person," she said. "So, splitting up my time at UNG by focusing my energy on different honors groups and interests was something I never thought I’d do.”

For her summer internship, she worked side-by-side with FBI employees on current cases, getting a glimpse of how a finance professional thrives in an intelligence agency.