Annually Sunstate Bank participates in the Future Bankers Camp program. This year, six of the future bankers from Coral Gables High School, Coral Reef High School, and South Dade High School, interned at the Bank for two weeks applying the classroom knowledge they acquired in the program.

Kevin Arizandieta, Sunstate Bank Credit Analyst, addressed the 2019 Future Bankers graduating class and shared his experience with the program (Future Banker 2012). The Center for Financial Training Southeastern in collaboration with Miami Dade College has developed the Future Bankers’ Camp which is designed to motivate and tap into the talent of high achieving minority students from low-income areas, providing them a clear and promising career path in the financial services industry.

Kevin Arizandieta addressing the 2019 Future Bankers graduating class

Good evening everyone my name is Kevin Arizandieta and I work for Sunstate Bank. Today I will tell you about my journey on how I ended working for the best community bank in Florida. I was a junior in high school back in 2012 when I heard about a program called Future Banker’s camp, I’m sure it rings a bell. I’ll be honest, I despised the idea of going to school during summer but the program promised hands-on experience that would look great on your college applications and so I decided to give it a shot. At the time, the class was small with only 10 students and Ocean Bank was the only bank involved. I was impressed at how highly organized the program was, that fast forward to 2015 when I was in college I did not hesitate when a fellow future banker’s classmate told me college students were now able to join the program.

I’m a firm believer that things happen for a reason, and this time I spent my two-weeks at none other than Sunstate Bank. Everyone I met at the Bank welcomed me with a warm smile and treated me like family. My experience was superb, that after graduating from FSU (Go Noles), I used the networking opportunity provided by Future Banker’s camp and reached out to Yvonne Debesa and told her this time I was ready to stay and become part of the Sunstate family. As most of you enter your senior year of high school I want to advise you to get heavily involved on campus and take classes that peak your interest. College is a time to figure out who you are and what kind of future you’d like to have, and the only way to achieve this is by putting yourself out there and trying new things. Best of luck, thank you.