-: Virginia Tech has had a huge impact on my career.
One, it taught me to stick to it.
When I originally applied to Virginia Tech,
I was not accepted.
I actually found my rejection letter
from admissions saying that
I didn't meet the qualifications,
and that said, you know what,
I really want to come here,
so it helped me get a little bit more fire
and do a little bit better.
When I was here, I had world-class teachers.
Four or five of the teachers
in my department had won national awards
for their teaching and their abilities,
several of the teachers I had outside my major.
The nice thing about that is
they didn't just teach me the material.
They taught me a little bit more maturity
gave a little professional polish.
They took me to a couple of conventions or conferences
so I got to see much more than
just the inside, the classroom.
It gave me the confidence to be able to work with any group
and take on pretty much any challenge.
I usually like talking about personal finance,
but I find people saying can you
talk about the macro economy?
Well, that was one of my least favorite
subjects when I was in school,
but, you know what, let's give it a shot.
I can talk about that now.
It's given me a wonderful network worldwide,
I'd say nationwide.
Several folks, you know, are outside the United States,
so if I ever have a question
I have my go-to people that I met at Virginia Tech
or work with here at Virginia Tech.