Student Diary: My Week on Wall Street
Mallory Rubin got to make Wall Street her classroom.
Mallory Rubin tells us about her time with her classmates on Wall Street.
Mallory and 31 other students traveled to New York for the popular interterm course "An Organized Walk Down Wall Street." They spent a workweek touring the institutions of Wall Street and meeting with DU alumni who’ve built careers there.
Mallory, a senior from Denver majoring in finance, kept a journal about her time in Manhattan and what it taught her about her future career.
Monday, Dec. 3
Arjun Murti, a managing director of equity research at Goldman Sachs and a 1992 DU alumnus, was one of the most animated speakers of the week.
Arjun recounted what it was like to make headlines in 2005 for predicting a “super spike” in oil prices, and updated our class on his current outlook for oil. He also gave his insights on emerging biofuel technologies.
Whatever my career path might be, I hope to be as dedicated and energetic as Arjun is.
Tuesday, Dec. 4
On Tuesday we headed to Times Square to visit another DU alumnus, Tyler Craig (BSBA '01). He’s an investment banker for debt products at Bank of Montreal Capital Markets.
Tyler told us about his dual experience in product- and industry-based research, and explained to us how they’re different.
As a recent graduate, Tyler was easy to identify with. He provided an excellent example of how to begin a successful career on Wall Street.
Wednesday, Dec. 5
Yet another alumnus, Dave Brackett (BSBA '82), hosted us at GE Antares Capital, where he’s the senior managing director.
Dave started out by giving us his interpretation of the credit market in these volatile times. Then he and his team presented us with an interactive case study to demonstrate the role of due diligence in determining whether to extend credit.
After the presentation, I noted that both GE Antares Capital and BMO Capital Markets focus on middle-market transactions. Clearly, you don’t have to make big-name deals to have a fulfilling, upper-level finance position.
Thursday, Dec. 6
Thursday was an exciting day—we got an inside look at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
We met with Murray Teitelbaum, who gave us an introduction to the NYSE’s history, including its recent transformation into a public company and its mergers with Archipelago and Euronext.
We also got to see a bird’s eye view of the floor as trading concluded at 4 p.m. A few minutes later, we walked out on the trading floor itself to meet with alumnus Ted Weisberg (BSBA '62), principal officer of Seaport Securities.
Friday, Dec. 7
We finished the week by having an intimate discussion with three more DU alumni who’ve built finance careers in New York.
Michael Penfield (BSBA '83), who works investment banking and music business, and limited-equity investment banker Noah Agron (MBA '03) talked about being entrepreneurs and the pros and cons of starting your own business. Richard Kelsey (MBA '73), who works in fair valuation, described the crucial role of independent firms in determining the value of companies for mergers and acquisitions.
We topped off the day with dinner in Little Italy.
To me, the alumni panel summed up what I’d been learning all week—there are exciting, rewarding and attainable career opportunities in finance for DU students like me.
Published on Dec. 20, 2007