Joseph Mead

Background

About Joseph Mead

I was 12 when I got in trouble for reading during class. Not the most glamorous reason for being disciplined, but is amusing. Growing up, I always had big dreams. These dreams never remained the same for long, but they showed me two essential things. These dreams first showed me my love for discovery, reading, and learning new things. As time has progressed, this lesson has shaped my attitude toward learning from my schooling and the professional colleagues I have met and worked with. The second thing these dreams showed me is that even if a dream is lofty, almost impossible to achieve, you’ll never reach it if you only think about it and never actually work towards it. A potential author can think about their next great book for all of eternity, but will never get it published if they don’t actually put words to paper. Born and raised in Minnesota, I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Journalism at the University of Minnesota, studying marketing communications and data analysis. This is one of the reasons why pursuing my MBA with the University of Arizona - Global Campus is so exciting for me. While learning new skills, I can build off the old ones I already have. Looking to the future, I plan to apply this new business knowledge and to be a more significant presence on any team I am on. I am also excited for this new opportunity to pinpoint specialties, such as leadership and financial analysis, to better plan out my career path. Professionally, I have worked as an assistant librarian and banker and am now in operations at U.S. Bank. These roles have helped me hone my attention to detail and improve my collaboration habits beyond what they would be in a scholastic environment. These opportunities have also shown me that there is always something new to learn, and reaching out to others for help when dealing with new tasks and problems is never wrong. My goal in these roles is never to let them stagnate and continually search out new learning opportunities, always to keep improving myself. I enjoy reading, traveling, and playing video games in my spare time. I am also a big sports fan and try to make a game for each of Minnesota’s big four home teams (Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey). If the timing is right, I also like to see other local sports and concerts just to experience new things and spend time with friends and family. I haven’t seen Minnesota win many championships in my lifetime, besides the Lynx, but I haven’t given up hope.