{"id":15710,"date":"2020-04-30T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T15:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/?p=15710"},"modified":"2020-04-30T08:34:39","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T14:34:39","slug":"creating-your-own-luck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/2020\/04\/creating-your-own-luck\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Your Own Luck"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finance Symposium Reveals Power of a CC Network<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Jason Bogardus \u201993<\/strong> (left) and Gillian Munson \u201992<\/strong> (center, left) speak with Zachary Glosser \u201920<\/strong> and Vi Nguyen \u201920<\/strong> at an intermission during the Finance Symposium. The potential of CC’s network to connect students and alumni with great careers was a recurring theme during the symposium. Photo by Josh Birndorf \u201920<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Colorado College\u2019s Career Center hosted a daylong Finance Symposium last semester<\/strong>, where CC alumni and students gathered for panel discussions covering topics ranging from an overview of the finance industry to networking and interviewing to finance and sustainability.<\/p>\n

Onyx Bengston \u201918<\/strong> traveled to CC from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where she works in corporate and institutional banking and asset management at PNC Bank. For Bengston, who holds a bachelor\u2019s in economics, networking with members of the CC community has been critical to her ability to forge her career path.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust having those people available to develop relationships with is invaluable,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s obvious to students now, but the further you get in your career, just knowing that you can call people who have been there becomes really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea for the symposium came from several alumni, including Jason Bogardus \u201993<\/strong>, a managing director for wealth management and a private wealth advisor for the 545 Group at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first objective of the symposium was to help students figure out whether a career in finance is right for them,\u201d he says. \u201cThe next objective was how to best leverage the alumni network because graduating from CC and looking for a career in finance, you\u2019re competing against students graduating from Wharton, MIT, Chicago, and Columbia \u2014 schools that have traditionally fed into Wall Street. So, you need to figure out a way to have your CC education become a strength, not a weakness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe third objective \u2014 or reason why this symposium came about \u2014 was to ingrain the importance of this narrative that you have to create your own luck. Luck is not going to come find you,\u201d Bogardus says.<\/p>\n

He recalls how he landed his first job because he played in a reggae band, leading to a chance encounter with a citizen of the Ivory Coast who became impressed with Bogardus\u2019 knowledge about F\u00e9lix Houphou\u00ebt-Boigny, the country\u2019s president from 1960-93. Bogardus explained that he learned about the president while at Colorado College and his new acquaintance offered him a job on the spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was total luck, right? But I created it and that\u2019s such a CC type of story,\u201d he says. \u201cYou don\u2019t hear those kinds of stories other places, typically. And I think this symposium is going to be full of those stories,\u201d he said prior to the event.<\/p>\n

He was right.<\/p>\n

Todd Kealthley \u201993<\/strong> spoke about applying the analytical abilities he gained from his Colorado College comparative literature degree to finding success in the finance industry. He also discussed how he decided to move to New York and pursue a career in finance \u2014 making a career change after a stint in political fundraising.<\/p>\n

Now, he has a successful career at Virtu Financial in New York City.<\/p>\n

Keynote speaker Gillian Munson \u201992<\/strong>, currently a partner at Union Square Ventures and formerly the CFO of XO Group, recalled her first job in finance as a classic CC story.<\/p>\n

After working as a camp counselor \u2014 a role that required \u201c24-7\u201d attention all summer \u2014 she sold her future boss on her ability to work hard and began a career path she describes as \u201czig-zagging,\u201d but one always grounded in passion and curiosity. She also reiterated Bogardus\u2019 point about breaking into an industry dominated by graduates from other universities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you\u2019re in the door, you go shine,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you\u2019re working harder and doing better than any other person from any other school, you\u2019re going to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Munson did stress the challenges of working in a male-dominated industry and recalled being described as \u201cdifficult\u201d and receiving unequal compensation for years earlier in her career. And she recalled the strength she still continues to draw from her CC relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019ve had a rough day at work, I go back to CC people,\u201d she says. \u201cThey seem to understand better than anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although she graduated less than two years ago, Bengston noted the abundance of networking opportunities available to students and alumni through the CC community and the Career Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is so much to pay forward,\u201d she says. \u201cSo many people provided connections and time and opportunities to me. There\u2019s an incredible amount that I think I have to give to the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about how to connect with CC alumni around professional networking, contact the Career Center at careercenter@coloradocollege.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finance Symposium Reveals Power of a CC Network Colorado College\u2019s Career Center hosted a daylong Finance Symposium last semester, where CC alumni and students gathered for panel discussions covering topics ranging from an overview of the finance industry to networking and interviewing to finance and sustainability. Onyx Bengston \u201918 traveled to CC from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1388,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[26,63],"class_list":["post-15710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring-2020","tag-features","tag-peak-profiles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1388"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15710"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15870,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15710\/revisions\/15870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}