In October, Catherine was one of the students chosen to attend Rotman’s New York Career Trek. Read about her experience and how this experience inspires her to possibly take her career to the Big Apple! 

Day 1 

New York was a very jam-packed time for us! On the first day we were there, we got to visit RBC, then had a lunch with Evercore, and then there was an alumni mixer on Monday night. For me what stood out on that day was the alumni mixer. There was a rented venue as many Rotman alumni came out after their busy day at work to come join this event. I got to see the amount of  alumni and students really enjoying their time.  

A big theme of my master’s experience at Rotman is support. And to see these wonderful alumni willing to come out during their spare time in their busy New York schedules to talk to us and give us insights was magical. Knowing that having a Rotman stamp of approval on our careers and knowing that our careers could take us even to New York was magical. They were super willing to share their resources. I had an alumnus who graduated from the Full-Time MBA program talk to me and I shared about my desire to learn more about risk management. He immediately pointed out various connections he has and told me to not hesitate to ask to get connected.  

Day 2 

On Tuesday, we got to visit more places like TD Securities as well as Sullivan and Cromwell. We even went on a walking tour of Wall Street. We learned so many interesting facts about the historical background of Wall Street.  

Later in the afternoon a lot of the students including myself took the opportunity to book coffee chats. I got to meet with one of our alumni named Jason. He was actually a graduate of the MFRM program and was my TA when I was in my undergrad in Rotman Commerce. He really helped me out during my MFRM application time. When we spoke at the time, he spoke so highly of the program. He really gave me a lot of insight as to how to carry myself through the application process. The program really allows you to gain a network of support unlike any other.  

Day 3 

We got to wrap up the trip by taking a visit to Wolfe Research, an equity research firm as well as McKinsey. In this trip, we really got to visit an array of financial institutions and firms, which created a well-rounded experience. During this trip, we were amongst a dozen other students from various master’s programs at Rotman. Going through that with them, we gained this extra experience that other students in our programs might not get.  Overall, the trip allowed me to experience many facets of the corporate culture that exists in New York. It was truly inspirational.