I love productivity. I love meaningful experiences and the opportunity to acquire knowledge. MOST IMPORTANTLY I LOVE BLACK EXCELLENCE. I love being surrounded by Melanin with a touch of Success and a dash of Magnificence.
These are exactly the feelings that ran through my body at the NABA Eastern Regional Student Conference that was held in Norfolk, Virginia ( Oct 5th – 7th). NABA is a nonprofit membership organization that is dedicated to advancing black professionals in the finance, accounting, business and related services by providing various learning and networking opportunites.
Prior to the conference, I got acquainted with the executive board members of NABA. The eboard were very welcoming and helpful. Despite having their own responsibilities, they took it upon themselves to prepare us for the conference. During this time of preparation, I felt like I finally found my place in college, and that marked the end of my “transition period”. My resume went from looking like “OH NO BABY WHAT IS YOU DOING” to “…I MAKE MONEY MOVES”. I was initially ashamed of my resume and hesitated to show my resume to anyone. However, after NABA fixed me up, I felt as if I pull my resume out just for fun. I also attended a proseminar conference at one of the big four accounting firms Ernst & Young. This was the first tie I ever put on an actual blazer. I learned about elevator pitches, networking ; interviews and how to answer interview questions using the “STAR” ( Situation, Task, Action, Result) approach. Towards the end, a dress for success fashion show was organized. The differences between business professional and business casual was emphasized, as well as appearance in general ( hair, jewelry, makeup, color coordination).
On Thursday October 5th, we were all on the bus to Virginia at 5:30am and the bus left Baruch at 8am. We got to Virginia around 2;30 pm, although we missed some interactive and learning sessions we were on time for the opening session. On Thursday night, there was a game night. This was mostly to break the ice and interact with other students from various colleges within the Eastern Region. After the game night, a bunch of Baruch students all came to my hotel room to prep for the next morning. Our hashtag for this whole experience was #securethebag . On Friday there was a career fair, at which we engaged with several companies and even the Big 4 accounting firms. We delivered our elevator pitches, put our best foot forward and hoped for the best. We were out there grinding. Fees were sore from walking in heels for hours. It was worth it.
Thankfully, later that day I got notified that I’d been selected for an interview with Deloitte , one of the big 4 accounting firms, for a possible leadership program or internship opportunity. I was excited because I never expected for this outcome. I only expected to gain some learning experience and test the waters. After the career fair, I rushed to my room to do some more prepping because my interview was in a few hours. I went to my interview and I felt good about it. I wasn’t too nervous and I think I was able to garner just enough confidence. After my interview, I attended some sessions. Professional hours were done by 6, however you never know who you might run into in the hotel lobby so professional hours weren’t really over. After the day was done, I went to my room to take a nice long nap. Everyone from Baruch went out to eat at some restaurant but I needed my sleep. That night also happened to be the 80s/90s themed party. When I woke up from my nap, they were still at the restaurant. I decided to get dressed into my 80s costume and go join them at the restaurant. We stayed there for a couple of minutes , then went back to the hotel to change into out outfits for the party. The party actually started as soon as we walked in because we turned it up. It was a fun night, and I ended up winning a $25 gift card for best costume along with some friends . The night didn’t end with the party . We turned up after….
Saturday was the last day of the conference. There was a scholarship breakfast, held in honor of those who were receiving scholarships. Two of the scholarship recipient were from Baruch. Then the rest of the day consisted of sessions and finally a closing session. The freshmen who attended the conference were given free registration for next years conference. After the closing session, my NABA squad and I put on the awesome shirts we customized and went out to eat. We also went on a ferry ride after dinner then we retreated to the “Rep your school” party. Basically it was a party to see which NABA chapter ha the most school pride and made the most noise. I just want to mention that Baruch is well known and also well hated because we dominate. Our students are always well prepared and we’ve won best Division Student Chapter of the Year twice in a row. Saturday ended the conference and we left Virginia on Sunday morning.
Overall,this conference was a wonderful experience and has had an impact on me individually and professionally. I will use everything I learned at the conference to my advantage and most importantly use it to help people who plan on joining NABA or going to the conference next year. I would like to live by the motto ” Lifting as we Climb”
The undergraduate job fair was pretty interesting. The lines were especially long for the different banks that were there. It made sense though, many people that were there were mainly looking for undergraduate college juniors or seniors. Freshman was rarely a choice there for job searching. It was pretty interesting how each company was making their pitch to lure in curious onlookers. I went to quite a few and most of them actually had a lot of good freebies as well. I got a small boat stress toy from one of them. Out of many companies visited, there were some that were willing to hire freshman. I got hired through one of them through this career fair. It’s great how the school offers do many opportunities throughout the year. It gives a better insight to preparing ourselves for the upcoming years when we actually need to get internships. I am very glad I came to this school because it helps the students strive to become what they would want to do for their careers, in the future.
