Reflections and Thanks

May 17th marks the exciting end of a journey for the class of 2012.  One which feels strangely both too short and too long all at once. For my friends in the Part-Time program especially, graduation offers us a return to a ‘normal’ existence. Our last three years at Stern have been exceptional, in every sense of the word.

My classmates and I started back in the Fall of 2009 in the last year of the Cooley administration. Dean Fraser welcomed our bright-eyed enthusiasm with open arms on our first day of pre-term.  Jackson Yang served as my Blue Core Group Captain during that whirlwind weekend.  He also happened to be EVP of the Part-Time Leadership Forum. Jackson’s enthusiasm as a student leader encouraged me to get involved, for which I’m grateful.  Our program is made great by all of us who comprise it; the more we’ve put into this experience, the better we’ve gotten to know our classmates, and the more we’ve gotten out of it.

Each Core would develop its identity over our first semester.  Andrew and Sanjida’s Yellow Core came decked out with yellow flower corsages on the very first day to celebrate their pride.  The Purple Core was buoyed by Peter and Mike’s good humor; Orange Core with Keeley and Kinesh’s awe-inspiring O-Mails; our Red Cores had Ryan, Matt, and Shefi bring the cool back to Saturday study-days; Brown Core had Marcia’s enthusiasm that literally put Westchester back on the map; and Green Core featured Hank and Kellan’s encyclopedic weekly emails – a tradition Hank carries on to this day.  Our Core Groups have been like a second family.

Blue Core will always occupy a special place in my heart.  From Dan’s rooftop to our happy hours, from Arnaud’s rooftop to our annual summer picnic, we’ve shared some amazing times.  And some amazing rooftops.  Sean Tse has been like the patriarch of our core, always ready with helpful personal and career advice.  Eileen, Jenny, Shafat, Kelley, and Anselmo were tightest study group of all time.  We celebrated as Anselmo and John Galeazzi became fathers and cheered when we learned that Aileen and her hubby Scott got engaged.  

The Langone program allowed us the flexibility to attain our goals. John Pellegrino put school on pause for over a year after he landed a killer internship which materialized into the full-time opportunity in finance he’d been working towards.  Upon our pending graduation, Dan is leaving the corporate world and opening Handsome Dan’s snocone and candy store in Brooklyn.  

Langone students share a New York heritage, as most all of us worked in the metro area prior to starting the program.  Our degrees are leading us to new adventures all around the world.  Alyssa landed a great new job in New Jersey, while Pritesh is leaving this summer for Belgium, and our core leader Shannon moved permanently across the pond as she finished her degree abroad at LBS.

It’s been a true honor to serve in my role within student government this past year.  Thank you to Jason, Prat, Hank, Marcia, Rachel, Alefiya, James, Rahul, Taffi, Jacqueline, Marisa, Karima, Andreea, Najeed, Tom, Kat, Kaz, Erin, Marci, Mark, and Julie for your dedication to SCorp and hard work; to Steven Levine for being such a strong ambassador for our program and all-around great guy; to Todd, Kris Ann, Jackson, and Hank for providing such steady leadership for the PTLF over these last four years; to Nicole, Eduardo, and Juan for planning the 2011 Chile Trek; to Paul Marcato for being our fearless TA in Spain, Lindsay for making sure we were all safe; to Justine, Alex, Nancy and the class of 2011 Foodies who had such delicious taste; to Suma for two years penning the Langone Word at the Oppy; to the 2010 India Trek for letting me crash all your reunions; to Professor Chernoff and our Operations in Entertainment class for an unforgettable learning experience; to Kim Corfman for all your contributions to our program and teaching one of my favorite classes; to Glenn Okun for your immersive lectures and unfailing good humor when we’ve run into each other in the halls of KMC; to Professor Salomon for your thoughtfulness and career mentorship; to Janet and Diana for reanimating Student Activities; to Tom Lee for being indefatigable; to Dean Henry for your inspiring vision and leadership – it’s exciting where our program is headed in years to come.