Whether giving campus tours as a member of Maroon V.I.P., assisting students as a resident adviser in Hathorn Hall, or fulfilling her duties as an MSU athletic marketing intern and Adidas brand ambassador, Bryanna Sims always strives to give 110 percent.
An Arlington, Texas, native, the 19-year-old sophomore kinesiology/sports management major and daughter of Bryce and Kemily Sims said she fell in love with the MSU campus during a summer visit following her junior year of high school.
"You know when you get that feeling like 'Wow, this is college?' When I went to go visit other schools, I didn't get that feeling," she said. "When I came to visit State, I felt at home. I realized this was where I needed to be."
Clearly, Sims is proud to be a Bulldog. "All my friends could tell you: I'm always saying 'Hail State.' I just love school spirit,' she said. "I love that the staff here wants to see you do well as long as you're willing to do well."
With a goal to become a professional sports agent, Sims—though only in her second year of college—already has gained valuable work experience through multiple sports-marketing internships.
She said her academic coursework helped her become more confident when networking this past summer in Dallas during an internship with a non-profit organization founded by NFL icon Deion Sanders.
"He was very supportive, and he gave me a lot of guidance," she said, then admitting with a laugh, "I was starstruck, at first!"
In encouraging other students to follow in her footsteps by obtaining work experience as soon as possible, Sims emphasized, "If you don't do internships, put in the extra hours and network, somebody else will."
At the end of the day, Sims said she most wants to make her parents proud.
"I will be the first in my family to graduate from college," she said. "It's a lot of pressure, but I accept the challenge."