Heather Gostomski ’09, is a graduating senior with a major in Business and concentrations in finance and economics, President of the class of 2009, and President of the Business Club. As a student intern with Kathryn Swintek at BNP Paribas in the summer of 2007, she had impeccable training. She performed such high level functions as helping structure a database, calculating portfolio valuations, reconciling client financials to SEC filings, and analyzing portfolios to uncover overvalued and undervalued companies.

Heather remembers that she was asked by one of the managers to find out how many telephone lines there are in the US and Canada, broken down by state, town and household by every telephone company and subsidiary. “I had to go though SEC reports, there was so much information, all of the annual reports from telephone companies. It was a tight deadline, but I did it.”

The demands of the internship were immediately apparent, “I went into the office at 7:45 a.m. and left at around 9:30 p.m!” she exclaims. It was a test of her determination that allowed her to discover her passion for the fast paced world of finance.

Looking back, Heather believes that it was her solid education and the networking opportunities she took advantage of during her time at Mount Saint Vincent that provided her with the skills she needed to excel at her internships.

Since her 2007 internship, she has gone ahead to accept a full time position at JP Morgan and looks forward to the challenges and opportunities it will bring.