Daniel Platta
- Wausau, Wis.
- Bachelor's degrees in business finance, economics and accounting
- What's next: Employment with Cargill Inc. as an associate accountant in the company's emerging biofuels business
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UW-Eau Claire photo by Bill Hoepner |
Good things are happening in threes this spring for Daniel Platta.
At UW-Eau Claire commencement ceremonies he'll celebrate the completion of three bachelor's degrees in his five years at the university, where he pursued majors in business finance, economics and accounting.
Platta also ends his undergraduate career receiving what he jokingly but proudly refers to as a "trifecta" of awards, including the College of Business Outstanding Senior Award, a university Outstanding Senior Award and the economics department Wall Street Journal Award.
While at UW-Eau Claire, Platta conducted research for the Chippewa Valley Center for Economic Research and Development, completed two accounting internships and studied abroad at the University of Winchester. And while academics certainly took up much of Platta's time as a UW-Eau Claire student, he managed to find opportunities to pursue his love of hunting and fishing. He held several leadership positions in the campus Rod and Gun Club, including serving as the group's president during his senior year.
"Being an environmentalist and having exposure to the outstanding natural resources close to campus, I was sucked into the club via my interest to find all the good fishing/hunting spots and to meet people looking to do the same," he said. "In five years I found plenty of nooks and crannies and even more great friends to enjoy them with."
More on Dan Platta
Future plans: I am moving to the Twin Cities upon graduation to begin employment with Cargill Inc. as an associate accountant in its emerging biofuels business. I plan on retaining a career in the biofuels arena, both due to the potential of that industry and the strong environmental ethic I hold. To assist in this pursuit I will hopefully acquire an MBA with a focus on both business and biofuels. If possible, I would like to work for Cargill my entire career. There is something to be said about the way a large private company is able to treat its employees, its customers and the general public. Bringing those two thoughts together, in the long run I envision establishing the biofuels business as an integral part of Cargill's operations. When that career is wrapped up I may look to teach courses in biofuel technology, business and environmentalism.
Unique aspects of his UW-Eau Claire experience: I think the most unique aspect of my education was my triple major. People always reacted as if I were insane, but in all reality, after spreading it out over five years and organizing accordingly, I still found myself to have way too much free time spent on Water Street. Another unique aspect of my college experience was my failure to actively participate in any "major-based" club. I could never really decide if I should be a member of the FMA (Financial Management Associaton), SEA (Student Economic Association) or SAS (Student Accounting Society), so I guess I just opted out of all of them. I spent plenty of time dealing with those three subjects anyway, I figured, so I decided to go the recreational route and join the Rod and Gun Club on campus.
What he liked most about his UW-Eau Claire experience: The professors definitely stand out in my mind as what truly made my experience here at UW-Eau Claire. At first I was a bit intimidated by the Ph.D. persona, but after more exposure to professors I began to realize they are the best resource on campus, not to mention they are all very down-to-earth people. In the end I guess professors are just people who graduated from college but decided they liked it so much they would make a career out of it. One professor that I grew a great relationship with was Dr. Jamelske of the econ deptartment. I began working with Dr. J on a stock research project my freshman year and continued the project through my graduating semester. We met pretty much every Saturday, not too early, to get data and do economic/financial analysis on publicly traded companies with an employment presence in the Chippewa Valley. Not only did I learn a generous amount of information about research, the stock market and report presentation, I was presented a perfect opportunity to enhance my leadership skills as other students were brought in to assist in the data collection and report writing. This experience was a great asset to utilize in job interviews and definitely helped me to acquire my position with Cargill.
A second outstanding element to my UW-Eau Claire experience was the second floor of the library. Many hours spent there with the intent to study turned into social time and the opportunity to meet great peers who also almost had enough willpower to get their work done.
Lastly, I would have to say the Rod and Gun Club had a huge impact on my college experience. As I stated earlier, I was not very anxious to join student groups focused on what I had already been doing all day. Instead I decided I would much rather join a group that can teach things not covered in any course or textbook.
Highlights of life at UW-Eau Claire: A few recurring experiences stick out. Walking to 8 a.m. classes and watching the sun rise over the river. Fishing the mighty muddy banks of the Chippewa River. Tubing down the river on sweltering summer days with an ice cold beverage in my hand. Studying abroad for a semester in Winchester, England, and traveling around Europe. Being the loud, obnoxious kid in class. Being too loud in the library. Making laps around the fourth floor of Schneider to say hi to all my favorite professors.
Proudest college accomplishments: The first major accomplishment of my college career was being admitted into the Honors Program. A student just can't argue with early registration. Also, I think this opportunity gave me a much-needed confidence boost, confidence that definitely came in handy when adverse conditions presented themselves. The second major accomplishment was being awarded a $5,000 scholarship through my mom's place of employment. For all I know the competition could have been zero, but just like early registration, it is hard to argue with a fat chunk of change. The third accomplishment that comes to mind was being elected as an outstanding senior by the econ department. Lastly, and most rewarding, I was selected as the College of Business Outstanding Senior for 2007-08 by the professors. I guess all those laps around the fourth floor paid unexpected dividends.
Advice for incoming students: Learn to make studying and going to the library fun. A certain level of confidence needs to be established to do so, as this will drastically lower stress levels and open the door for happiness. Work your butt off until you ace an exam. This may take more work than you are originally prepared for, and all classes will require a different amount of relentlessness. However, once you know you can do it, make the decision and effort to do it again, in a harder class. Soon it will start occurring due to habit and you will begin to expect that level of achievement. With so many aced exams you will accidentally get a 4.0 GPA one semester, and once you realize you can do that, hard work will become second nature. Instead of enjoying time spent outside of school and letting your grades suffer, you will learn to enjoy the feeling that comes with setting a curve — it just so happens that this is much more rewarding than anything that can be done outside of class. In addition, it will get you a respectable job; respectable jobs make respectable amounts of money and provide you with a respectable amount of pride and happiness.
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