Freshmen year at Arizona State University

To pursue my career on Wall Street I decided to take a leap of faith and attend Arizona State University. My reasoning behind this was the great weather of Arizona, unlimited networking opportunities, and the W. P. Carey School of Business which has vastly moved up the ranks in recent years.  During my first semester I was very driven with grades and everything yet did not feel I took advantage of the networking opportunities in which I originally came to ASU for. As a result, I had a whole new outlook for my second semester. Continuing with my Finance degree I added a certificate in Small Business and Entreprenurship and decided to become very involved on campus. During the first couple weeks I became an active member in various organizations such as the Financial Management Association, Sports Business Administration, and Student Economics Association.  Continuing this theme I became involved in student government and decided to join Greek Life by rushing Sigma Nu. These were all great additions however the icing on the cake was when I was accepted to become a member of the Investment Banking Industry Scholars or what we call IBIS.  IBIS is a competitive program for 20 faculty selected students preparing for investment banking careers. Throughout the course we are trained through rigorous bi-weekly sessions in excel capabilities, business valuation, and financial statement analysis. We also engage in weekly discussions with investment banking professionals to understand industry expectations and challenges. The course has been a great resource to help build myself for the Financial world. It has helped me outline my strengths and weaknesses and given me the tools necessary to succeed. Now after finishing up my Freshmen year of college I will be off to London to intern with HSBC. This decision came late as originally I planned on working for some small capital management firms in San Francisco yet decided after working for a large Investment Banking previously it would look bad going back to a small shop. Anyways, it should be an exciting summer and check back in for updates throughout.