Junior | Baylor Business Fellows, Accounting, Economics & Finance
Joseph Walter has a few more majors than the average student at Hankamer: Baylor Business Fellows, Accounting, Economics, and Finance; with a minor in Mathematics. The Baylor Business Fellows major is the conduit for his studies and the reason Walter ended up at Baylor in the first place.
Initially, he planned on majoring in Accounting only, but after learning about the Fellows major from Allen Seward, professor and director of Baylor Business Fellows, Walter added a few more fields of study to his agenda.
“The Fellows major was what made me decide to come to Baylor,” he said. “Basically, I was deciding between going Ivy League and attending Baylor. My brother and sister had both gone to Baylor, and I also received a scholarship when I applied.”
Baylor Business Fellows, first offered in fall 2007, serves as a prestigious major that leads to a BBA degree. With this major, highly motivated students may focus on several fields of study (with additional majors), and Fellows allows for students to customize their degree plan through an interdisciplinary approach.
“Fellows is such a unique major that would be difficult to find elsewhere,” Walter said. “It gives me a lot of elective hours and customizes my degree plan where I take classes I enjoy that can be applied to my future. I definitely don’t have any regrets coming to Baylor as opposed to going Ivy League.”
Walter has done well handling his academic load. He is a member of Beta Alpha Psi, the international honorary organization for financial information students; Beta Gamma Sigma, the international scholastic honor society for business students; and has been accepted to Baylor’s BEST program.
But don’t think Walter is chained to a desk studying all day. He is involved with campus organizations as a member of International Justice Mission and the Baylor University Mathematics Society. Walter is an avid mountain biker and enjoys woodworking, video editing and rebuilding classic cars – he finished a 1974 Gran Torino in high school. You could say he has a knack for entrepreneurship as well. At age 13, he started his own computer company, building customized systems.
Additionally, Walter’s had his fair share of globetrotting. He has traveled extensively, working with his older brother who works for PHM Foundation in Dallas, and for mission trips and family vacations.
“I’ve been to 14 countries outside the U.S.: New Zealand, Singapore, Nepal, Bhutan, some European countries, and Central and South America,” he said. “Traveling gives you more of an objective view of the world.”
After he graduates, Walter intends to earn a CPA and go into accounting and possibly consulting. He hopes to earn a few more passport stamps as well.
“I really think that traveling is one of the most important things,” he said. “It’s essential, especially in the business world, to understand the value of different opinions and the way others think. You start to see the world differently.”