Double Major In Financial Economics And Accounting At Caldwell University

Throughout all my experiences, I have looked to identify and grow from my own strengths and weaknesses. I have come to see that my main strengths are my natural curiosity and pursuit of growth. These two features have led me towards the pursuit of multiple goals and experiences, subsequently leading to immense intellectual and professional growth, strong self-discipline, and essential skills of multi-tasking, time management, and prioritization.

My fascination with financial markets led me to pursue a double major in Financial Economics and Accounting at Caldwell University. The course load was at first a struggle, but self-discipline coupled with a drive for continuous growth allowed a continuously improving GPA. With improved morale, I

As an Accounting intern at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), I developed familiarity with accounting and software skills in bookkeeping, reconciliations, and financial statement analysis. I also gained experience with fund accounting by performing month-end closes of the museum’s $800 million endowment fund. Navigating at an inspirational institution like MoMA and associating with a distinctly intellectual crowd helped me to gain immense confidence. Encouraged by this, I interned in Automatic Data Processing’s (ADP) highly analytical and challenging International Tax team. Collaborating with the Senior Director of International Tax and ADP’s foreign representatives, I prepared tax returns for 108 of the company’s foreign subsidiaries, developing a solid skill set in tax management and

This tendency to bite more than I can chew has been by biggest weakness. I first realized this when I started studying for the CFA Level I exam in the fall of 2014. By adding the CFA exam to my stretched list of responsibilities, I was not gleaning as much as I wanted out of my internship at MoMA, my classes, or my CFA preparation. I quickly rearranged my plans, holding off on studying for the CFA exam till I completed my internship at the end of the semester. The decision paid off. The following semester, I allocated more time into the CFA preparation, and subsequently passed the Level I exam. Most importantly, this experience led me to the understanding that I need to carefully evaluate my time and resources before undertaking any project.

By the time I joined the MS in Finance program at Villanova, I had internalized a continuous growth mindset. Nevertheless, taking rigorous graduate-level courses while working as a research assistant was difficult. However, I saw this as an opportunity to further work on and minimize my weakness. I had pushed my limits once again, but persistently sought to enhance my time-management, multi-tasking and prioritization skills. Over time, I was able to successfully grow in both my roles as an RA and a student, learning and applying the processes of academic research while maintaining an incessant uptrend in my