Goodbye paycheck, Hello more student loans

It's hard to believe how fast my internship flew by. Time again for tests, deadlines, and group assignments...

After spending over six hours in the car for what should've been a four hour trip (weekend traffic was herendous), my family and I rolled into Ithaca on Friday night. Although it's nice to be back, my mind has yet to switch to "school" mode and classes start tomorrow at 8am. The nice thing about your second year in B-school is that every single class is an elective as opposed to required core classes. Now I can focus on things I really want to learn like Investing in Distressed Companies and Equity Derivatives (two out of the four classes I'll be taking this fall).

I expect that the time spent in the real world during my internship will give me a better framework and perspective for my second year at school. I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences with first-year students so they can be better prepared for the grueling process of finding an internship on the buy-side. There were things I would've done differently (like not being picky about the city I wanted to work in) and things I definitely would've done again (like building relationships with second-year students who had previously worked in the industry). One of the truly great things about the Johnson School is that I'll have ample opportunity to be a mentor to first-year students since there are so many ways to get involved. I'll be a tutor, a co-president of a club, and a work group leader all during the fall semester! Oh, and I still have to attend class.

Intense summer

After nine weeks of reading 10ks, building financial models, digging through research, and pitching stocks to my portfolio managers, my internship is nearly over. The large cap value team at Bear Stearns Asset Management has been a perfect fit for me, so it's going to be hard to head back to Ithaca in a couple weeks. Not to mention that I'd forgotten what it's like to get a bi-weekly paycheck. :)

My summer has been everything I expected it to be, and more. Not only did it give me an opportunity to use all of the tools I picked up through the CMAM immersion and the Investment Management Club, I also learned a great deal about the risks/rewards of running a business in this industry. Reading about your firm every other day in the Wall Street Journal definitely made the experience real.

My wife and I have 3 kids, so moving to New York City for the summer was quite an adventure. We found a furnished condo in New Jersey that worked out perfectly. And getting around the Big Apple has been easier than I thought. During the weekends, we've made family trips to the Bronx Zoo, the Disney Store, Central Park, and more. I think my wife is ready to return to "normalcy" at our home in Ithaca, but we'll all remember the wonderful times we've had this summer.

My wife and I are originally from Salt Lake City, UT and we have three beautiful kids (they obviously take after their mom). After spending three years within the Private Wealth Management unit at Goldman Sachs, I returned to school to follow my dreams of running an equity fund. Cornell has been the perfect place to gain the network, experience, and skills needed to succeed in the investment management industry. I spent my summer internship at Bear Stearns Asset Management and I’ll be part of the Cayuga MBA Fund this year. I love sports and enjoy traveling with my family.