James Brey joins admissions staff

Finlandia University is excited to welcome Hancock-native James Brey to the Admissions team as an Enrollment Officer. Brey has a Bachelor’s in Business Management from Finlandia.

“I’m excited to add Jim to our admissions team,” said Admissions Director, Collin Saint-Onge. “He brings a passion for the school and area that can’t be matched. He will do great in this role and I look forward to working with him and learning from him.”

After graduating from FinnU in 2012, Brey moved to Plymouth, MN and worked as a Retention Representative for Prudential. After spending a few months at Prudential, Brey pursued an opportunity at Enterprise Rent-A-Car where he underwent training to become a Branch Manager.

Brey moved back to the Keweenaw briefly as the Director of Sales and Marketing and Admissions at Gardenview Assisted Living and Memory Care in Calumet. New management inspired him to pursue at position at FedEx in Minnesota for four years until the Enrollment Officer position opened up last fall. He cites time management and communication skills as the two most important things he’s learned from his past experiences.

Brey is putting those skills to the test as he works with prospective students and helps them make their college decisions.

“My favorite thing is hearing what they want to study, what they want to do when they’re done with college and me being able to help with that,” said Brey. “Having been here for four years, I can relate to a lot of things they have questions about and I can jump in and start answering. It’s really cool and you can build a good friendship with them.”

But for Brey, being home at his alma mater and with his family is what he loves most.

“Every time I came back here, it was ‘why did I move?’,” said Brey. “Once this position opened up, I knew I had to jump on it. Being back home with everyone I went to school with, being at Finlandia, it’s like being with family. I’m just glad to be home.”