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By Danielle Burkhart
 Opportunities
are endless when attending a college or
university. Some opportunities require work
and searching while others present
themselves effortlessly.
For one Lock Haven University student, a
career opportunity landed right in his
inbox. Leroy Baker, freshman business major
at Lock Haven University, received an e-mail
from Career Services promoting a program
titled “Road Trip to the Real World.”
“Road Trip to the Real World” is sponsored
by the Eastern Association of Colleges and
Employers (EACE). EACE develops educational
programs and services that aim to help
students make the transition into
professional careers while also working with
businesses that seek to hire college
students and alumni.
Baker chose to participate in this one-day,
free program in Boston. He made the
seven-hour trip to Boston in January of this
year to take advantage of the seminars that
were offered. This particular program in
“Road Trip to the Real World” gave students
the opportunity to learn about life on Wall
Street.
Students worked closely with employers of
several financial investment companies to
learn about
investments and growth on Wall Street. A
company called State Street played a large
role in the program. State Street is one of
the world's
leading providers of financial services to
institutional investors.
“I spoke with people who were at [the
level] where I wanted to be and were ahead
of where I wanted to be. They gave me
guidelines on how to get there,” said Baker.
Baker noted that most of those who attended
the seminar were seniors. Even though Baker
is a freshman, he said that the experience
was what you need to do by the time you are
a senior. “It blew me away.”
Baker was one of thirteen students who
attended the program. He was the only
participant from a state university while
all of the others were from prestigious
institutions such as St. Bonaventure,
Harvard, and Holy Cross College.
“It was a big experience, and I was shocked
that no one from here (Lock Haven
University) went,” said Baker.
Advice given to Baker while attending the
program was to raise his GPA. Baker, who has
a very respectable GPA, was surprised to
hear this suggestion. Other advice was to
study abroad and find an internship in his
field.
“The pool is small and the competition very
heavy. You are going up against Harvard
grads and students with 4.0 GPA’s. People go
in wanting to be Wall Street stockbrokers
but the pool is very large,” said Baker.
Baker also benefitted from the program by
taking advantage of the opportunity to
practice his networking skills. A member of
the talent research department gave Baker
his contact information and advised him to
stay in contact. “Your social skills always
have to improve. Always go outside of your
element. You have to expand or you will
fail miserably. Everyone there knew how to
speak and knew how to work - everyone there
was very social,” said Baker about the
competition.
Baker learned a lot about the trading floor.
Watching from the balcony, he witnessed
different bills being closed. “There is a
trading floor in the main part of the
building where brokers can make trades from
Boston and not have to worry about the
congestion of NYC. I thought that was a
little bit different because they were
trading on Wall Street, but they were doing
it from Boston,” stated Baker.
He described the experience as, “A great
overview as to how the establishment is
run.”  This
experience has pushed Baker more towards his
field. He realizes now that he is not the
only one who traveled 7 or 8 hours just to
be a part of the experience.
Leroy Baker used his on campus resources by
taking advantage of opportunities offered
through the Career Services Office.
If you are unsure about where to begin
looking for an internship or other career
opportunities, contact Anita Casper,
Internship Coordinator, at 570-484-2247 or
acasper@lhup.edu,
or visit her in the Career Services Office
at Akeley 114.
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Internships |
