Thoughts of May 31st

Hello, my name is Mike DeFeo.  I'm neither a "blogger" nor one who reads blogs.  Jill from Columbia CCE seemed pretty excited about the idea of reflecting throughout the summer on a blog, so I'll humor her for the next couple of months and try to post updates throughout my internship at Citigroup.

I start work on Monday, and quite frankly I have no idea what to expect.  As an engineer, business clothing has never been my forte.  Nonetheless, I managed to drag my sister out with me to tell me exactly what to buy and advise me what summer attire in the finance industry is like.  I'll be showing up at the office on Monday with a decent (almost complete) set of clothes, my passport, and zero expectations.  I interviewed with the person who is my future manager and I have been in touch with him since.  I would be much more concerned about my first day and lack of expectations if I didn't already have a good experience with him.

I've been fortunate to be paired with a Columbia alumni mentor.  His name is Patrick, and it seems that we have more in common that I had originally imagined we would.  I look forward to building our relationship and squeezing every possible bit of wisdom out of him that I can.  I have a general direction and some well defined interests, but I don't know exactly how to translate them to my life yet.  Hearing about Pat's experiences will surely help me understand possible paths for my future, if nothing else.

As for now, I'm making sure both to prepare myself for the coming ten weeks and to enjoy relaxing at home before I move into the city in two days.

Until next time,

MD