This past April, students and professionals gathered at Princeton, New Jersey for the Princeton Fintech and Quant Conference . Among these attendees was Donelle Cummings , an evening MBA student at Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business. Though he is also a full-time practicing physician as a Gastroenterologist and Advanced Endoscopist for New York City Health and Hospitals, he has always been interested in the business side of healthcare. The conference, therefore, was a perfect opportunity for him to explore finance and market-focused subjects.  Given this, Donelle’s experience at the conference was a good one. In fact, the conference had such a positive impact on him that he applied to be a member of the conference’s planning committee. Having been accepted, Donelle spent the past few months working with the committee to plan the next gathering, which will take place in Chicago this Fall.  In early September, I had the privilege of speaking with Donelle about his exper...

Gregory Maro  is expected to graduate from the evening MBA program at Baruch College by May 2026. He is the Chief Operating Officer at Bizzarro Real Estate Agency and has been with the company for about seven years. He is married to his husband, David, and has a dog named Bernie. One August afternoon, I had the privilege of interviewing Gregory Maro–Chief Operating Officer at Bizzarro Real Estate Agency by day and MBA student at the Zicklin School of Business by night. The purpose of the interview was to learn more about his experience in the ROMBA pre-MBA Trek. But even more so, the intention was also to share his story and hopefully inspire other MBA students to step out of the comfort of their classrooms and participate in programs that can be academically and professionally beneficial. With that said, here is my interview with Gregory and I hope you will find it as informative, entertaining, and enlightening as I did:  Elizabeth: I suppose we’ll start with this–for those ...

MS Quantitative Methods and Modeling student Jianghao Luo shared with the GCMC about how being team collaboration has impacted her career. One of the most significant lessons I learned during my internship was the importance of self-reflection. As I worked during the busy season at the firm, I was assigned numerous tasks that required my assistance. Alongside learning new tasks, I was also responsible for updating previously completed assignments based on client feedback and provided information. By consistently reviewing my work on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, I not only avoided duplicating the efforts of my busy team members but also became more familiar with the documentation process, enhancing my overall work efficiency. This practice not only facilitated my personal growth but also contributed to the team's success. Networking played a crucial role in my internship experience at EY. The work environment fostered a positive atmosphere, and my manager was particularly su...

MS Finance student Azimdjon Gaziev shared with the GCMC about how being flexible and adaptable in work teams has benefited his career. One of the most important things I have learned at my internship is how to adapt to new teams and working environments. The ability to be flexible with the different people you encounter at your workplace is one of the keys to success. I learned that getting to know people and understanding their work ethic and motivations help you build relationships with co-workers, which is one of the essential aspects of working with people. Understanding what your organization requires and applying your skills to meet those requirements is the key to success wherever you go. I also learned how to introduce myself as well as how to ask questions to gain a better understanding of business processes. I attended a lot of networking events and building relationships with professionals in my field of study during my undergraduate degree. Networking can be done either by ...

MS Information Systems, Data Analytics student Prakriti ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/prakriti-ac/ ) shared with the GCMC about how making connections at work has made a difference in her career. What has been one of the most important things you’ve learned at your internship? The most important thing that I’ve learned through my internship is building meaningful connections. Connections help with your individual growth and even confidence. Asking questions and reaching out to people for help has always been hard for me, but I’ve learned to seek help - even among my fellow interns - which has helped me tremendously. I realized that it doesn’t make me any less deserving than others, but rather makes it a collaborative and healthy work environment.  How have you approached networking at your internship? Share any one specific example that has been impactful for you. I have! For example, I used the company directory to reach out to coworkers who had similar roles like mine and ask for...

  Mariya Pakina (MS Financial Risk Management) shared with the GCMC about her work as an Actuary. What has been one of the most important things you’ve learned at your internship? The most important thing I learned was that I finally got a clear understanding of what actuaries do. I learned how to communicate with important people and ask the right questions in a professional manner, how to project manage starting with requesting the data and to delivering the client the final project. I learned how to response to unhappy clients and make the client understand that they hired us for a reason. I learned how to jump from one meeting to another, and then continue reports for completely another client. I learned how much paying attention to details is crucial. I learned that you need to check your work twice and probably the next day with a fresh eye before submitting it.  However, the most significant that I learned is that health and benefits actuary should not only have highes...

Victoria Lilienthal (MS Business Analytics, Data Analytics) shared with the GCMC about her previous experience interning in Business Development. My experience at Heritage Outdoor Media was very rewarding, and I had the opportunity to work on many different projects. I was even encouraged to come up with my own projects and ideas to make the work more streamline and easier for my coworkers and to improve operations.   Heritage Outdoor Media is a small firm. I found the internship through Handshake and thought it could be a great opportunity.   In the first semester working with Heritage, they gave me many different projects to work on. I could expect a new challenging task every week which led to my work in my last semester where my manager had much higher expectations on me in terms on finding my own ways on how to help automate processes for the company.   I worked on many projects around data, which opened opportunities for me to put my academic knowledg...