Blue Blazers Reflect on Life-Changing Experience in New York

After visiting New York in February, some of the 16 Westminster students involved in the Blue Blazers Investment Committee shared the meaningful opportunities for personal growth and career preparation they experienced over the course of the organization’s four-day biannual trip.

“Being able to talk to people who know a lot about different sectors and being able to pick their brains was something I liked,” says Riley Zack ’19 ΦΔΘ about Wells Fargo Securities. “It allowed me to get ideas for pitching for the group and knowing what they do for their research and how to apply it to Blue Blazers.”

“He took some things that some people would not spend the time on and simplified them in a way that anyone could understand,” says Jake Money ’19 ΣΑΕ about Alex Dryden, a presenter at JP Morgan. “Many of his thoughts on how the market has responded to certain things and where it will be going in the future resonated with me, and I am excited to apply some of these thoughts and use the Guide to the Markets [a JP Morgan publication] as I continue to invest in the future.”

“Being in the room when they opened the market and appeared on four major networks is an experience that is unmatched,” Turner Smythe ’20 ΔΤΔ says about witnessing NASDAQ opening one morning.

“Jill Malandrino, who is the Global Markets Reporter at NASDAQ, took the podium first, and her energy and confidence were inspiring,” Clara Baldwin ’19 KKΓ says about a presentation on their second day in New York. “She welcomed questions and explained her duties of running small segment shows for NASDAQ as well as social media and trying to pertain to audiences around the world that might want more knowledge of investments and stocks.”

About the people encountered, Sam Studer ’19 ΦΔΘ says, “Everyone was interested in us and seemed genuinely concerned about staying in contact with us.”

About the Westminster alumni event, Taylor Howard ’18 KAѲ says, “I not only made connections with other Westminster family, but I also let down my wall of shyness and learned how to mingle. From that event, I feel the confidence that I could go into any situation and now talk about myself as well as my views with full confidence.”

“It is just simply amazing to see that years or even decades after college, many alumni are willing to gather together and help out current students in ways they can,” Yuanfei Zhai ’18 ΦΔΘ says about connecting with Westminster alumni.

“This truly was a trip that I will remember for the rest of my life,” says Gracie Koonce ’19 KAѲ about the trip to New York overall. “I learned more on this trip than I ever could one semester spent in a classroom.”