Region

Manawatu

Job

Ryan is currently in his fourth year of University. He is studying for a conjoint degree: a Bachelor of Business studies (BBS) majoring in finance, and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) majoring in agricultural science. In four years he will complete two degrees that would normally take six years of study.

Ryan is interested in animals and pastures, so for his BSc he is taking papers in animal nutrition, metabolism, and physiology, as well as pasture management.

For his BBS, Ryan is learning about corporate and banking finance, which includes business management, hedging risk, valuing companies, cash flow, and sharemarket investing. Ryan is finding the finance degree relatively easy because he has always been fascinated with finance, and has a strong interest in investments.

Ryan enjoys swapping between these two different disciplines and finds the change keeps him interested

Career Pathway

Ryan grew up on a dairy farm in South Taranaki. In his spare time he still works on the farm and enjoys investing the earnings that he makes. Because of his interest in money Ryan studied economics throughout high school. He also studied biology, chemistry, physics, and maths, in order to keep his options open for the future.

To help him decide what to do after he finished school Ryan contacted lecturers at Massey University. He discovered that he could combine his interest in farming and money in a conjoint degree. Studying at Massey also meant he could continue to have an active role in his family’s farm.

Ryan’s conjoint degrees give him lots of options – he can work in farming, in corporate finance or share broking. There is no limit!

In 2006, Ryan was awarded a New Zealand Dairy Industry Undergraduate Scholarship, which was renewed in 2007. He has appreciated the financial support that this scholarship has given him.

Ryan enjoys learning and is planning to work in rural banking. He is hoping that he will be able to apply the knowledge he gains from working for a bank to future investments in farming. He looks forward to analysing peoples banking systems and applying the parts he likes to his own systems.

Interests

Ryan is a member of the Young Farmers Club and Massey University's Alpine Club. He enjoys socialising with his friends; working on the farm at home, and his part-time job on a beef farm. He also likes going to the gym, running, fishing, playing golf, and thinking!