After my first year at Columbia as an Economics major (and my first year living on my own in NYC), I decided to escape the hustle and bustle and return home for the summer, interning for the semiconductor company Novellus (since acquired by Lam Research) in their Finance department.

During my sophomore year, though, I decided to switch to double majoring in English and Visual Art, reflecting my actual interests as opposed to what I thought was more pragmatic at the time. And as a result, searching for an internship in the city made a lot more sense, ultimately landing at the New York Stock Exchange as a Communications Intern in the summer of 2002.

As a Communications Intern, I split my time equally between the Advertising, Marketing, and Design Departments. Within Advertising, I shadowed the team that was working on a series of commercials meant to instill confidence in the stock market after the attacks of 9/11 less than a year before. Periodically, we’d go to BBDO's offices, the Advertising Agency producing the commercials, and meet with the Creative Directors on the project, watching various cuts and going over every detail—copy, pacing, music, etc... Read more