September 17th, 2015 | Uncategorized
I am in the middle of my second week of classes and just turned in my first assignment (a four page paper) so I thought I’d celebrate by writing a blog.
The degree I am pursuing at the University of Limerick is a Masters in Financial Services. As an undergrad at NC State, I majored in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. For undergraduate, I took 4-5 classes a semester totaling to 12-15 hours in the classroom a week and now for my masters, I am taking 7 classes this semester totaling to 22 hours in the classroom a week. So the workload is definitely a major difference. But when it comes to the professors, they remind me a lot of my professors at NC State. They come to class everyday with high energy and have a great sense of humor. They make the lectures engaging and interactive and create an environment where I feel comfortable asking questions. While I have more hours in the classroom, I see that as a good thing. I do not dread going to class because I have a passion for finance and I want to learn as much as possible about it. I come to class everyday eager to make myself more educated and to really understand the material.
I developed an interest in finance my sophomore year of college when I took an Intro to Finance course. It was a basic course that went over what a stock is, what a mutual fund is, etc. but we also did some calculations. I am a guy that likes math and dealing with numbers so when we learned about calculating bond prices and calculating Time Value of Money, I found it easy and immediately gained a interest in finance. I decided to do my concentration in finance and started to read the Wall Street Journal and follow the financial markets. The higher-level financial courses I took for my concentration taught me how to create financial models, valuate stock prices of companies, and compare mutual funds, and this turned my interest into a passion. I did an internship this past summer with a financial firm and I now have created a mock portfolio that I manage on Yahoo Finance and this is a fun way to put what I learn into practice. All of this has led me to attend graduate school to keep learning about the subject I have a passion for.
Victory Scholar: Staats Battle
Present University: University of Limerick
US League: ACC
Club/Community Partner: UL Huskies
Alma Mater: North Carolina State University
Sponsored by: Team Ireland
