Although senior Sarah Lyman has always loved the real estate business, she never expected to find a home for that passion while studying finance.
Lyman’s interest in real estate and home design originated from her military upbringing. With her father in the Air Force, frequent moves were par for the course.
“My parents would often buy old houses because old houses were their favorite,” Lyman says. “We’d fix them up while we were there and then we would move again and see if we could sell it for a profit. I thought that was so fun.”
In high school, Lyman worked for an interior designer, a property developer, and a custom home builder. But after becoming a BYU student, she struggled to find the major that was the right fit for what she wanted to do.
In the course of trying out the construction management major her first semester, she took an accounting class.
“I ended up liking my accounting class way better than I liked my construction management class,” Lyman says. “Construction management was the closest thing I could think of to home design that BYU offered, but it didn’t feel like the right fit for me.”
Recognizing the pull she felt toward the business school, Lyman went to many information sessions and talked with juniors and seniors to ask them why they chose different fields. She finally decided on finance—not only did it have a real estate track but it would also give her a wide variety of employment opportunities.
“I feel like finance makes you super versatile and provides you a network to figure out what exactly is a good fit for you,” Lyman says.
Lyman recently went to New York with members of the Finance Society to visit investment banks and network with those in the finance industry. Now she is the incoming copresident of the BYU Finance Society and is headed to Walmart this summer for a real estate strategy internship.
Lyman credits the Marriott School with providing resources, connections, and excellent faculty members that have helped her to achieve her goals.
“I’m so grateful for the education I’ve received, the people I’ve met, and the hard and soft skill sets I’ve gained,” Lyman says. “The Marriott School faculty helped me so much in improving my networking and professionalism. I’m really grateful for that.”
