April 24, 2019

Varied coursework prepares Wheeler for financial internship

By Kelsey Johnson, communication assistant

Jacob Wheeler

A Northwest Missouri State University student has secured an internship in Oklahoma for the summer, preparing him to be career ready.

Jacob Wheeler, a junior mathematics major from Republic, Missouri, will intern at Bank of Oklahoma Financial in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a data analyst in the consumer banking division.

“It feels amazing,” Wheeler said. “After my interviews with Bank of Oklahoma Financial, I really felt like I fit in and work well with the structure they have.”

Wheeler will assist with preparing financial reports, presenting and analyzing data, among other tasks.

“I’m looking forward to translating all of my skills I’ve learned at Northwest into a real-world application,” Wheeler said. “I’m also excited to learn new things that I would only learn while working at Bank of Oklahoma Financial and not in a classroom.”

Wheeler says the variety of courses and assistance from faculty at Northwest have prepared him to be successful in the internship.

“The courses I’ve taken have taught me multiple computer programming languages and database management systems,” Wheeler said. “Plus all of the applications that my professors brought into class make me feel confident that I won’t be completely overwhelmed when I start this internship.”

Wheeler decided to attend Northwest after meeting faculty during his visit day and learning Northwest offered the math program he desired.

“The professors during my visit were great and made me feel welcome from the beginning,” he said. “Plus, Northwest had just started offering a math major with a data science emphasis program a year before I started at Northwest.”

At Northwest, Wheeler is a member of the honorary math society Pi Mu Epsilon, the Wesley Student Center and a Resident Assistant in Dieterich Hall. He also is a member of the Bearcat Marching Band.

“The best part is being able to continue playing my saxophone in a fun environment where I get the best seat to all of the home games for the Bearcat football team, the best team in Division II,” Wheeler said.

After graduating, Wheeler hopes to become a data analyst and work in the actuary field. His dream job is to work with data and statistics for a professional sports franchise.