Meet Our Outstanding Senior

PFP student Chris Ford named PFP Outstanding Senior for 2017

Each spring the Department of Personal Financial Planning faculty select an Outstanding Senior to be honored at a ceremony prior to graduation. This is an exclusive honor that goes to one student from each academic department in the College of Human Sciences. PFP senior Chris Ford was selected to be the Personal Financial Planning Outstanding Senior for 2017.

Chris came to Texas Tech University in the Fall of 2013 as an undecided student. As a freshman he attended an event hosted by the Office of Transition and Engagement called Majors and Minors Fair. This fair exposes undecided students to the 150+ majors that are offered at Texas Tech. He visited with the students working the Personal Financial Planning table and became interested in the program after they talked about the department's national reputation and stellar job placement rate. He took a one-hour seminar class that was taught by Dr. Bill Gustafson and Dr. John Salter and the rest was history. Chris said he loved the content of the course and major and has never regretted his decision.

Chris says he most enjoys how the major has a "Finance-feel" but with a personal touch. As a numbers person, Chris naturally gravitated towards a major with numbers such as Finance. He really enjoyed working with numbers but he was looking for a major that allowed him to build relationships with people. Naturally, Personal Financial Planning is a good fit.

When asked about what advice he would offer to younger students in the program, he says to just stay consistent and persevere. There are tough classes and you will have ups-and-downs throughout your time in the program but don't get too down or be too hard on yourself. Work hard and everything will work out.

During his time at Texas Tech, Chris has been involved in multiple honor societies due to his outstanding performance in the classroom. In addition to the honor societies, he worked three semesters as a Peer Counselor for Red to Black and worked part-time off-campus. He has scaled back his involvement this semester as he is currently studying to take the CFP exam.

Chris has accepted a Guidance Specialist position with United Capital in Irving, Texas upon graduation in May. He says that United Capital was the perfect fit for him as he can see the potential for growth and forward trajectory with the firm. Chris would like to thank the department faculty for their continued support throughout his time in the department.