Senior Personal Financial Planning (PFP) major Bamma Strohmeyer chose her degree because it combined her three favorite things: puzzle solving, math, and people.

"A degree in PFP will allow me to help people plan for a future that may not have seemed possible before," Bamma said.

Last summer, Bamma surrounded herself with her three favorite things and utilized her PFP degree at an internship with Mamantov & Associates. Mamantov & Associates is a Lubbock-based financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. The financial planning practice specializes in helping people fulfill their long term and short-term financial goals. Bamma enjoyed forging relationships and building trust with the clients, and putting her financial planning knowledge into practice.

"It allowed me to take all of the knowledge and skills I had gained in the classroom and apply it to real-life situations."

Bamma's professors add case studies to the Personal Financial Planning curriculum to prepare students for real client interaction, but Bamma said that experiencing real client interaction is invaluable.

"My internship gave me the opportunity to interact with real situations and real emotions," Bamma said. "There was nothing hypothetical about any of my client encounters."

The most important lesson Bamma has learned throughout her time at Texas Tech University is that there are people behind the numbers. This lesson was emphasized during her internship experience.

"I can look at numbers and run a financial plan all day; however, the most meaningful part of the experience is building relationships and trust with those that you are helping."

Bamma is set to graduate May 2018 and has already accepted a job with Vanguard in Scottsdale, Arizona. Bamma will be joining their Financial Advisor Development program in June.