I’ve always wanted to study in a small community. I am originally from Athens, Greece, but I came to the States for college and studied engineering at the University of Virginia. I loved my time there. It was the real college experience.

After graduation, I took a job in Houston working for Apache, an oil and gas company. It was an interesting time for the company. They were shifting from being a global player to a North American shale player. I felt like I wanted to be more involved in the bigger decisions that were going on at the company, but I didn’t have a finance background. I thought the timing was great for me to get back into a learning environment.

When I chose my MBA program, I wanted a lot of the same things I had in undergrad. I didn’t want a big class size. I wanted to be able to see familiar faces in the cafeteria. I wanted to live where people were invested in the community. I wanted to go to a top school and graduate with a tangible skillset in business and finance.

Energy is a topic I’m passionate about. The sector is changing so fast, and Tuck is ahead of the curve. The Revers Center for Energy, one of the reasons I chose Tuck, facilitates leading speakers and workshops. The professors and practitioners who are associated with the center have tremendous presence in the public and private sectors.

Before Tuck, I was focused on the oil and gas sector, but there’s so much else to do within energy. Tuck is a great place for me to hedge my bets. I’m getting exposure to a diverse network and different industries. I know that if, at one point in time, the oil and gas industry isn’t growing at the same rate it is today, I will have other opportunities.

One of my favorite classes has been an elective called Energy Economics which covers oil and gas, power and renewables. The class has been fascinating. Right now, we’re discussing OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and examining the economic drivers that dictate how a cartel works. You can fill up your schedule quickly with all the great electives. The class is taught by Professor Erin Mansur, who is the Revers Professor of Business Administration and Faculty Director for the Revers Center. Mansur and all the other professors are extremely dedicated to teaching and to their students. They’re available after class. They have an open-door policy that is fantastic and makes them approachable.

I took a microeconomics class in high school, but other than that I didn’t really study business.
I’m learning the foundation in the classroom and applying that in the real world. I’m learning how to evaluate a business and what goes into a quantitative and qualitative assessment.

I’ve loved my experience at Tuck. It’s been great on a lot of levels. I am making lifelong friends. I’m continuing to develop my leadership skills. I worked in a more traditional male-dominated environment, and now I’m getting a new perspective on how different people lead. There’s diversity here, not just in ethnic background but in how people think.

At the same time, people really care about each other here and help each other out. I was mentored by a second-year student who was on the same career path as me. He did banking as well, and he has helped me navigate through the noise. I’m not even through my first year, and older folks who have graduated are making me feel like I’m part of a family.

Tuck’s alumni network has a strong presence in energy banking. This has really helped me. I reached out to a Tuck alumnus who works for an investment bank in Houston. He helped me with my internship application and gave me insight on a job market that was foreign to me. Tuck’s alumni network will open doors for you.

This summer, I’ll be interning at Morgan Stanley in investment banking. My focus will be on natural resources. If my internship goes well this summer, I’d like to go back to Morgan Stanley full time after graduation and see where that takes me. I’d love to run a company one day.