BW business major graduates with dream job in investment banking

Imagine starting senior year with a job already lined up waiting for you. Lauryn Cook '22 knows the feeling. The international business and finance double major has a full-time position waiting for her with JPMorgan Chase & Co.

"My dream has always been to work at a top national firm," said the Canton, Ohio, resident. "I had this dream, but I wasn't sure how to make it possible. BW helped make my dream a reality.

"Last summer, I was a corporate and investment banking markets analyst with JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York City. I rotated through all the equity sectors. It was an experience of a lifetime. At the conclusion of the three-month internship, they offered me a full-time position. I was ecstatic," she said.

Faculty Focused on Goals

"All of the amazing support I received from peers, faculty and staff helped me throughout my internship search process. My first-year advisor, Dr. Lori Radulovich, worked with me to meet every goal I have for college. First, she helped me tackle being a double major and minor and still graduate on time. Then she helped me tackle studying abroad in London for a whole year. No matter what experience I want at BW, my advisor sits down and figures out a way that I can have it," she emphasized.

"I have been involved in a multitude of activities and leadership roles at BW, including being president, vice president and lead analyst of the Investment Club. The knowledge I gained helped me thrive at JPMorgan Chase. We are managing a real-world portfolio valued at over three-quarters of a million dollars," she noted.

"BW was the school that surprised me," she admitted. "When I was applying, I was only doing it to please my parents, who both graduated from BW. It wasn't a school I was even considering. I had wanted a big school far from home where no one knew me.

"I was on the accepted students overnight, and I fell in love with the faculty I met with and with the student volunteers I hung out with. BW just felt like an open community and campus that would accept all of me and help me grow into the person I am supposed to be," she said with appreciation.