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Victor Hwei, Class of 2010 View past entries:
The 12th Annual Charity Ball, Stern's largest philanthropic event of the year, took place this past weekend. The Charity Ball is our version of a winter formal and is held at Tavern On the Green, an historic landmark that’s located smack dab in the middle of Central Park. One of the main events was a silent auction of donated items from students, professors and administrators, in addition to dinner and dancing. We aimed to raise at least $15,000 (the benchmark set by last year’s Charity Ball) for the Literacy Assistance Center, a non profit organization based in New York City that helps adults, out-of-school youth and their families learn English. It was great to see many of my classmates dressed up at the ball having a great time (as opposed to seeing them at recruiting events, where they are dressed up for a different reason). In my opinion, a huge part of what business school students do is “network”, and going to these types of social events outside the classroom enables students to build a strong network of classmates that they can rely on for the rest of their lives. In other news, I’ve decided to take the job offer in Los Angeles. I’m looking forward to starting my investment banking career out in sunny California, but it was a difficult decision to leave New York, as I’ve made some great friends here. There’s always Facebook for us to stay in touch though! All joking aside, my classmates and I have gone through a whole host of joys, trials and tribulations together, and I know that we’ll be friends for life no matter where in the world we are. The 14th Annual Graduate Finance Association (GMA) Conference was a huge success! I am so proud of everything that the GFA Conference team accomplished. We had some amazing speakers and great panelists share their backgrounds and experiences with the audience, which numbered 200+. In particular, one of the take-aways from Professor Charles Murphy’s speech was to “know thyself.” In short, his thesis was that a person has to know what he/she wants in order to be able to achieve it. It really resonated with me, and thinking back, one of the key themes in my business school career so far has been “choices, choices.” We have so many options to choose from that it’s not possible for any one person to be able to do everything. From recruiting (picking your career path) to student events (all the cool stuff invariably takes place at the same time) to where to go for spring break (all of the treks look amazing, especially the one to Brazil sponsored by the Emerging Markets Association). All these choices make my head spin. In my opinion, it’s much easier to cut through the jungle if you have a destination in mind. However, one of the choices that I have to make in the near future is where to go after graduating from Stern. I am fortunate enough to have multiple job offers. In particular, one offer is in New York City, and the other is in Los Angeles. Do I choose to start my career in New York, or do I head back to my roots in LA? I had always thought that I would spend a few years post-MBA living anywhere but California, and then eventually settling down in LA or San Francisco. However, it would be great to go back to LA immediately afterwards. I have my family and friends back in Southern California, but I also have built some lifelong relationships here in New York. Choices, choices… The weather here in New York City is definitely turning! Gone are nice summer days…it’s getting to be pretty cold as I now have to bring my winter coat when I leave my apartment. Daylight Savings Time just ended, so the sun sets around 5:30pm. I wouldn’t be surprised if snow fell within the next couple of weeks or so. Being in New York City does have its advantages. Of particular note - during two of the last couple sessions of my Professional Responsibility class, Thomas Schick, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Communications for American Express, came in as a guest speaker. Mr. Schick leads corporate social responsibility programs at Amex, and it was fascinating to hear him speak about this experience. It’s interesting to note that he didn’t have answers to all of the questions asked by students. Corporate social responsibility is still being defined (and I think it will continue to evolve as society changes), and no one knows the right answers to all of the different situations that occur in the world. Companies like American Express are actively trying to make the world a better place though, which, in my opinion, is a huge step in the right direction for the broader business community. This Friday is the 14th Annual Graduate Finance Association (GFA) Conference that I, along with the rest of the officers, have been working hard to plan. I’m looking forward to it, but I think I’ll breathe a sigh of relief after the event ends. It’s been a huge scramble tying up what feels like a thousand loose ends, but I think it’ll be worth it for everyone involved. Check out the conference website if you guys are interested in seeing what will take place the day of the event. I’ve decided to go on a “stay-cation” and spend some downtime during Thanksgiving Break at home in New York City. I definitely need some time to decompress after recruiting and planning the GFA Conference (and to catch up on school work!) Hope you all have great Turkey Days! I’ve noticed that I keep talking about how busy business school students can be. This week is no different – it marks the end of the first set of half-semester, 1.5 credit courses. This means that a whole load of final exams, papers, write-ups and presentations are due this week. For example, I’m currently wrapping up 2 finals exams, 1 final paper and 4 write-ups for 3 half-semester courses. On top of that, I’m pretty busy recruiting (2 interviews this week), planning the Graduate Finance Association (GFA) Conference that takes place next Friday and trying to keep up with my normal course load. I’m definitely not complaining though – being busy in business school is a good thing as we’re exposed to so much stuff. I like having lots of things to juggle, and I particularly enjoy the challenge of dealing with the uncertainties that are inherent in a dynamic business school environment. On another note, a good number of classmates (10+ so far, and maybe more) are planning to travel around India before the start of Doing Business in (DBi)... India over winter break. While I’m not taking the actual DBi course, I’m taking advantage of the chance to hang out with my classmates during the holidays, since this is probably the last time I will have a winter break! My family is having a reunion of sorts in Shanghai, so I’ll be flying there before continuing on to Goa, Mumbai and Delhi. I just booked my airline tickets, so I’m pretty excited about my upcoming travels! However, the need to focus on these final papers, reports and write-ups brings me back to reality… Did I mention that time is flying by? Classes are really kicking into high gear now, and I just finished my first midterm for my Futures and Options course. Since it’s been so busy lately (Graduate Finance Association Conference planning and recruiting events are taking up large swaths of my time), I didn’t get a chance to really study until 2 days before the exam. I ended up staying up pretty late on Tuesday (it was technically Wednesday morning before I went to sleep) before my exam at 9am. We’ll see how I did once the professor hands back the graded exams on Monday! *fingers crossed* I’m taking more than the recommended load this semester, which is another reason why I’ve been really busy. Here’s a highlight of my fall semester courses: Futures and Options (3 credits): This course pretty much describes itself. We study the usage of financial derivatives in the marketplace and their applications (e.g. hedging risk). Futures and Options is known for being one of the more mathematical courses at Stern, but Professor Menachem Brenner breaks it down for us in (relatively) manageable terms. He’s also very helpful at office hours! Managing Growing Companies (3 credits): Professor Glenn Okun teaches this class focused on – you guessed it – small to mid-size companies and issues that pertain to them. Professor Okun has tremendous experience as a venture capitalist and shares real world insight and tips with his students. This is a “capstone” course because it takes a variety of different business principles (e.g. Strategy, Marketing, Operations, and Leadership in Organizations) and amalgamates them all to drive a lively case-based discussion. Multinational Business Management (3 credits): The professor, Rob Salomon, is a high-energy guy. He is constantly bouncing from whiteboard to whiteboard and is literally talking for 3 hours. This is another capstone course, and we utilize the case method to learn about the pitfalls and successes of businesses expanding internationally. Professional Responsibility (1.5 credits): One of the most interesting courses I’ve taken at Stern. We learn about the different types of market inefficiencies and how businesses exploit them to generate profits in a responsible way. Professor Bruce Buchanan paints pictures of ethical dilemmas in class, and students provide their opinion on what they would do if they were in similar situations. There are no answers that are right or wrong, and this class makes me appreciate the hard decisions that business leaders and executives have to make on a day to day basis. Conflict, Collaboration and Negotiation (1.5 credits): I talked about this class in one of my previous blog entries. This class is unique because it uses the experiential learning method, so that we typically prepare a negotiation case beforehand and then actually simulate the negotiation in class with each other. The professor, Steven Blader, has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology, and it makes him an effective teacher as a significant portion of any negotiation boils down to human personality. One of my favorite classes so far. Venture Capital Financing (1.5 credits): This is also one of the classes that I previously talked about. Professor Ian D’Souza teaches this course about the Venture Capital industry. He was actually a venture capitalist himself (as well as an investment banker and a hedge fund research analyst). He brings a wealth of real world knowledge to the class, which is very much appreciated by students. During each class, we work on “Lego Blocks” that are part of a larger case study about a hypothetical investment in a company called “Invisible Wires”. It’s interesting to learn via the case and understand the dynamics between the entrepreneurs who actual start companies and the financiers that fund them. The United Nations: International Governance and Organization (1.5 credits): Taught by the former Pakistani Ambassador to the United Nations (Ahmed Kamal), this is actually a class that I’m taking at the NYU Wagner School of Public Policy. I’m very much interested in global organizations (such as the United Nations) and how we can better improve international trade and economics. The professor tries to act hardcore in his first class, but as students get to know him better, he actually ends up being more of a goofy guy, with a very deep experience about international organizations such as the UN. Case Studies in Bankruptcy and Reorganization (1.5 credits): My old roommate took this class last semester and said it was great. Based on his recommendation, I enrolled. It doesn’t start until November, but I am looking forward to meeting Professor Max Holmes. If you want, you can take a closer look at the classes I’m taking here. What I really appreciate about the Stern MBA is its flexibility, as it enables students like me to get a broad perspective about a wide range of topics that I actually am interested in learning more about. As you might be able to tell, I enjoy sticking my hand into every cookie jar I can get ahold of! Tonight is "The HOT LABA Party", one of the premier social events that takes place annually at Stern. It's hosted by the Latin American Business Association (LABA), and it’s apparently infamous as being one of the best parties of the year. I missed it last year, and everyone is telling me that I have to go this year to experience it. Sounds interesting to me – I’m looking forward to observing all of the action that will go down tonight! (On the sidelines, of course.) I was just checking my calendar and realized that it’s almost the end of September! They say time flies when you’re having fun. I guess it’s true, because it sure feels like I’m flying by the seat of my pants through business school. We’re at the end of the 3rd week of classes here, and it’s been a non-stop whirlwind since getting back to New York after summer break ended. While there’s no “typical” day in business school, here’s a general sense of what to expect as a student (this was actually a real-life recap of my day yesterday): Thursday, 9/24 - 7:30 AM – I stayed up late working on a financial model for a class today, and it’s way too early for me to wake up already. My alarm clock is ringing, and I hit snooze twice to get a couple of more minutes of shut-eye. Sleep is precious in business school, but I think I will have a chance to make it up this weekend. 7:50 – OK I’m up! It’s time to start my day. Sleeping in sounds so nice, but I need to check off some things on my ever-growing “to-do” list. 8:05 to 8:30 – I’m out of the shower and throw on something that will pass as business casual clothing. I munch on a breakfast bar while composing an email to a Stern alumnus at an investment bank located in downtown Manhattan. I’m trying to drum up interest for our Graduate Finance Association (GFA) Alumni Cocktail Mixer, which will take place in early October. We’ve already signed up many finance-focused alumni, and this event looks to be a good chance for current students interested in finance to sharpen their networking skills in a casual setting. 8:30 to 8:50 – The subway station is just outside my apartment. I leave a couple of minutes early, as I don’t have a printer at home and need to use the computers on campus to print out notes and my model in time for class. I jump on the A train, and 3 express stops later, I emerge in the West Village and walk about 5 minutes to the Kaufman Management Center (or “K-Mac” as we affectionately call it), my home away from home. 9:00 to 11:55 – I join my fellow classmates in our Conflict, Collaboration and Negotiations class. Many of them also built similar models for our in-class simulation, so I know that this is going to be a challenging negotiation. The class is broken up into teams of 2, and I am paired up with a student from Shanghai who is studying political science at NYU’s Department of Politics. I am meeting her for the first time, and it’s exciting to be able to meet people outside of Stern. We thoroughly enjoy the simulation, and both of us walk away with a sense of satisfaction and “winning” the negotiation. 12:00 Noon to 12:50 – I catch up with Blake, one of my classmates at Stern, and also a fellow GFA officer. Along with 4 of the newly selected 1st year officers, we are responsible for planning the annual GFA Conference taking place on November 6th. The conference is one of the biggest student-run events on campus, so we’re meeting with our designated advisor from MBA Student Activities to go over our game plan for the next 6 weeks. We agree to meet weekly until the event, and I’m secretly relived that we have their support, as I don’t think we would be able to pull off this conference without MBA Student Activities on our side. 12:50 to 1:00 – I run over to Subway to pick up a $5 foot-long sandwich. It’s a great value for lunch and popular among students. 1:00 to 6:00 – I’m at work as a Graduate Ambassador in the Stern MBA Admissions office. In addition to fielding questions about my Stern experience, I get the opportunity to lead tours around the building for prospective students. I really enjoy playing the role of tour guide and showing visitors around. Stern is such a great place to be, and I want others to be able to share in some of the amazing experiences that are bound to happen if they go to business school here. 6:00 to 9:00 – I’m really excited for the first session of my Venture Capital Financing class. The professor is a great speaker and brings tremendous experience in alternative investing to the classroom. Night classes are a mixture of Full-time and Part-time students, so I introduce myself to the Langone Part-time students sitting to my left and right. It’s always interesting to hear about where they work during the day. 9:00 and onwards into the wee hours – Some of my friends will undoubtedly be at Beer Blast, our weekly social event that takes place from 6:00 to 10:00 PM. I still have the energy to hang out and enjoy some down time, so I meet them and grab a couple of slices of pizza and a beer. My “to-do” list is still pretty long – one of the big items is to write a 5 page case report for my Managing Growing Companies class that is due next week, but tomorrow is another day… Stay tuned for the next issue of my blog where I’ll talk about the classes I’m taking this semester in more detail! By way of introduction, my name is Victor Hwei, and I'm an MBA2, which is Stern-speak for a 2nd-year Full-time MBA student. Prior to Stern, I worked in management consulting at Deloitte Consulting with a focus on M&A integration. This experience initiated my interest in investment banking, as well as the financing and strategy aspects of M&A. I chose Stern for business school because it has a wide range of resources for finance career-switchers like me to take advantage of. For example, I was heavily involved as an MBA1 officer with the Graduate Finance Association (GFA), one of the largest student organizations on campus, and will continue on as a MBA2 officer co-heading our annual GFA Conference. I was fortunate to land my summer internship with BNP Paribas from on-campus recruiting. At BNP Paribas, I was a Summer Associate in their Corporate Finance Investment Banking Division in New York. BNP Paribas is based in Paris, France, and is a leading European bank. Its investment banking activities in North America are primarily focused on cross-border M&A transactions in a variety of sectors, including Energy and Natural Resources, Consumer/Retail, Industrials and Alternative Energy (which most interested me). Given the rather dreary economic conditions before starting the internship, I was worried that I would not have much to work on as my number one goal was to learn more about investment banking. However, I was pleasantly surprised that there were plenty of things going on in the office. In addition to learning a tremendous amount, I was able to directly apply much of what I learned on the job from my core MBA1 classes including Strategy, Marketing and Firms & Markets (also known as Microeconomics), in addition to Corporate Finance, Financial Accounting and Foundations of Finance. I'm a self-described travel junkie (I actually really love airports and airplanes, no kidding), so after my internship ended, one of my fellow classmates and I went to Tanzania to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was an eye-opening experience, capped with watching the sunrise at the summit, Uhuru Peak, at an altitude of 5,896 meters (about 19,350 ft). The hike was both physically and mentally taxing, so afterwards, we visited the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti on a safari and saw some exotic animals in the wild that I had previously only seen in cartoon movies such as the Lion King and Madagascar. It'll be hard to top this vacation, but Sternies organize a variety of interesting treks to places all over the world during winter and spring breaks, which I am definitely looking forward to. Right now, we have just about a week to go before school moves into full-swing, so I am enjoying some much-needed downtime at home in California. The air here is a bit smoky due to the wildfires raging across the Los Angeles basin, and my thoughts and condolences go out to all those who may be impacted. For many, including myself, Labor Day signals the end of the summer season. It's a bittersweet moment for me, as I've had a great summer and don't quite want it to end. On the flip-side though, I am looking forward to being back in New York and starting my next year at Stern. It will be great to meet the newly minted MBA1 class and to catch up with all of my friends and classmates. Until then! 
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Eni Bakallbashi
Victor Hwei
