Accountant Counts His BVU Blessings
As a tutor at the Center for Academic Excellence and a captain on the baseball team, Clayton Christian proved to be a leader while attending BVU. He now looks ahead to a career in accounting.
U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis was under construction when Clayton Christian joined a tour of Buena Vista University representatives on a tour of the $1-billion facility. Christian was a senior at Glidden-Ralston High School at the time.
“There were 10 of us on the trip, and we got a peek at the stadium as it was being built,” says Christian, who graduated in May from BVU.
Ironically, he ended up working at the stadium as one of BVU’s GameDay Interns serving home games for the Minnesota Vikings. His work assignment, which put him close to some of the greats in the National Football League, even had him doing a shift at the stadium when it hosted Super Bowl LII.
“I think of all the things I’ve been exposed to at BVU, a place small enough where you can know everyone, and yet big enough you get to learn by interacting with people of all different backgrounds.”
Clayton Christian
It’s just one of several somewhat improbable experiences for the business and accounting major chosen for the BVU Homecoming court last fall.
Hard work, talent, and an affable personality have put Christian in a variety of winning positions. He’s completed a half-dozen internships, experiences that range from seeing ESPN legend Chris Berman while working at the Super Bowl to a three-month work experience at KPMG, one of the “big four” in the accounting trade, to literally sweeping up peanut shells for the Burlington Bees, a Class A minor league baseball affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.
Christian kept busy at BVU in campus ministry and serving as a tutor at the Center for Academic Excellence. He was also a senior baseball captain after having helped the Beavers claim the Iowa Conference Baseball Tournament Title as a junior relief pitcher. Christian learned to throw sidearm under the tutelage of Steve Sonka, BVU’s longtime pitching coach.
“Baseball was a rollercoaster in college for me as I’d just come out of a sling when I came to BVU,” Christian says. “I wasn’t throwing hard off the mound at all (because of the labrum surgery). Coach Sonka moved me to throwing sidearm and I didn’t know if I’d ever throw a strike.”
During his sophomore season, Christian observed senior pitcher Jayden Clark closely. Clark, who is now an accountant in Des Moines, also threw sidearm and worked with Christian for weeks on the motion.
“Jayden Clark was a great teammate, just phenomenal,” Christian says.
As an upperclassman, Christian emulated that approach, taking the time to help lead BVU freshmen and sophomores through practices, questions about classes, internships, anything. He served as a captain during the pandemic-shortened senior campaign.
Now with his BVU playing days and his classes complete, Christian focuses on the second four exams he must pass to become a Certified Public Accountant, which he’ll take this summer. He’s already passed the first. And, he looks forward to beginning his career at KPMG in Minneapolis, one of the corporations he served as a BVU intern.
“I think of all the things I’ve been exposed to at BVU, a place small enough where you can know everyone, and yet big enough you get to learn by interacting with people of all different backgrounds,” he says. “I’ve been very fortunate.”