Alumni Perspectives
Our Alumni are among a pool of ambitious and creative individuals in leading companies across a variety of industries. They are hard-working and resourceful, and they live their lives with the mantra, "It isn't about you. It is about those who came before you and those who will come after you."
In that spirit, below we offer some of their perspectives about their SEO summer internship. To browse through a wider compilation of alumni perspectives, read our publication Stories from the Street, in which SEO Alumni offer their words of encouragement to future SEO Interns.
 | "The pinacle of my SEO summer was attending the week-long Corporate Financial Leadership Institute. The Institute afforded me the opportunity to truly engage leaders in both academia, business and policy on a myriad of issues that challenge the growth of a globally integrated enterprise. Moreover, it included exciting tours of the UN and NYSE while simultaneously expanding my knowledge and providing unparalleled access and visibility that many people in and outside of IBM might never experience." - Darien Davis
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 | “SEO benefited me in two ways. In addition to the necessary training and work-related experience, SEO provides a more personal experience as well. What I mean is that they train you on the job, but they also instill a sense of self-motivation. The Career Program makes you stop, assess, and overcome your shortcomings because you are competing with highly motivated people in a challenging work environment and on a global playing field. This internship pushes you to do better, because you know you can and should. This type of soft-skills training, including networking advice, really opened my eyes to interacting with people from all around the country, from all around the world.”
- Erik Hall Corporate Financial Leadership '06, Xerox Texas A&M University
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 | "I decided to participate in the SEO Career program because of training and access to senior executives on Wall Street. Throughout the course of a few weeks, SEO trains us with all the tools one needs in order to receive a job offer at the end of the summer. For example, I learned accounting terminologies, how to build a financial model, and how to schmooze on the Street. -Yohan Minaya
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 | "SEO opened the door for me to the exciting and rewarding Wall Street career which I had long aspired. I have benefited tremendously from the networking opportunities, training and alumni perspectives SEO provides, all of which have helped me move forward and achieve success on Wall Street. I feel obligated, and, more importantly, motivated to give back to SEO and continue the tradition of helping and educating the next SEO generation." -Ying Wang
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 | "There is something about sitting in a room with the very best of students from the top schools in the country that makes one yearn to succeed in ways one cannot imagine. SEO provided me a challenge like no other. I went into the summer with one goal in mind, to get an offer. The SEO program not only went beyond my goal, it also instilled in me a greater sense of discipline, service to the community and to the SEO family, and raised the bar on what it is to be truly successful." -Wairimu Thumbi
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 | "My SEO summer experience was a challenging, yet enriching one. This unique internship experience offered me an incredible networking opportunity and also gave me the chance to hone my skills in a challenging and nurturing real-life work environment. Noteworthy was the coaching I received from SEO Staff to deliver on performance and contribution beyond my own expectations. In all, I received a great investment in my own development. -Ernest Mensah
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 | "My SEO summer was a brief yet thorough and impacting experience that I will embrace the rest of my life. I was not only introduced to the 'Wall Street culture' but to an array of individuals from different walks of life. It has given me the opportunity to be part of something bigger than my career. It has forever changed my perspective on life, my ambitions and pursuits." -Edrizio De La Cruz
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 | "As an international student, getting internship opportunities is very difficult, since most internships are provided only to US citizens. I am happy that SEO gave me the opportunity to transfer what I had learnt in my business classes into real life experiences. Through the weekly accounting seminars, I was able to build on my confidence and also network with accounting professionals. I believe that my professional career begun when I got accepted into the Career Program." -Amuja Imaji
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 | "I gained insight into my own abilities. I realized that if you put your mind to something, you will be pleasantly surprised as you are able to transcend your own limitations. The SEO experience served to reinforce the importance of persistence and preparation." -Shelley Stewart III
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 | "The SEO Program offers the unique opportunity to explore a career with the encouragement and support of a dedicated staff and an active alumni network. As a result, SEO members are given access to a vast array of resources that most other interns can only dream about such as training programs and firm networking seminars." -Brian Wong
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 | "The exposure I had to the top firms on Wall St. and their leaders was absolutely priceless. It not only allowed me to understand the platforms of other firms, but, more importantly, to actually meet their people, understand their business and see where I could add value. In the end, it is this exposure that allowed me to make the most educated decision about the right firm and division for me." -Gabriella Gargano
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 | "Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the program. The amount of access I was afforded to some of the nation's most prolific and prestigious foundations and philanthropic organizations was an unparalleled opportunity. I was also given real and meaningful assignments and tasks, which greatly helped later in my job searching. -Philip Sanchez
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 | “I fell in love with investment banking in the summer of `82 because of SEO. I tell everybody, SEO changed my life. I walked into Harvard in 1980 thinking I was going to be a lawyer. Then, the summer after my sophomore year, I tried the SEO internship and got a fabulous opportunity working on Wall Street. That's when I realized that I liked finance and that my perception of what a lawyer did was, in reality, what a businessperson did.” -Carla Harris Carla Harris was recently named to Fortune Magazine's list of |