Mackenzie Hughes ’25

Staff Editor

Over fall break, Finance and Banking Certificate Program students attended the Ciocca Center’s Financial Boot Camp in NYC. This event is held annually and allows Holy Cross students to attend sessions hosted by alums at various banks, including J.P. Morgan, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and UBS. The program has become extremely popular as it introduces students to wealth management, alternative investment, sales, and trading. The general aim of the boot camp is to offer an immersion in understanding the institutional framework and career specializations in finance, with preparation for interview situations. For these reasons, the program is a highly competitive workshop where participants must demonstrate a passion for the industry, are up on current events, and follow a company or stock.  

“My biggest takeaways were the realization of how extensive the HC network is and how many opportunities and amazing connections there are to be made if we are willing to put the work in and reach out,” Maddie Bogdjalian ’25 said. “Also, there are so many different careers within the financial world. We got to hear from HC alums in the financial industry, including financial analysts, stock traders, and investment bankers.” 

Bogdjalian and her fellow 29 peers, who vary in class year and major, experienced the mission of the boot camp which she summarized as to “expose students to life working in the financial world and give them an inside perspective into many of the key investment banks in the United States.” A favorite part of this trip shared amongst the students was walking through the trading floor at KeyBanc and getting a glimpse into the setting of the finance world. Here, it is expected to find comprehensive technology with trading and sales software that matches the evolving state of finance. 

Although the program adequately exposed participating students to the various careers and divisions in finance in an engaging way, by meeting HC alums in a casual setting during the Blackstone Networking Night while getting to listen to their experiences and how they got to where they are today, other opportunities could have been utilized. Aside from eliminating the 6:30 a.m. bus ride, students could invest more time where they wanted, whether that be exploring the city or delving into a particular area of interest more closely. Finance is a popular field because of the variety of skills involved; students can choose to study computer science, economics, marketing, or statistics and pursue a career in finance. No matter what you study, a Holy Cross education is a valuable asset in navigating the world of finance. One thing is for sure, a lot was learned in three days, and participating students gained a deep appreciation for the fast-paced intensity of the finance world that goes beyond what students can learn in a classroom. 

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia