While his friends were playing soccer in the outdoor fields of Berlin during the summer of 1999, Andreas Stojanow was at home filling out scholarship applications and studying for the SATs. Four years later, he has reached his own personal goal: He started a professional career on Wall Street. 

Stojanow, who was awarded the Presidential Scholarship at Mount Saint Vincent, was accepted to five colleges across the East Coast before committing to the Mount. After his freshman year, it became evident why choosing the Mount was the right decision. He says, “As a foreigner who was entering a different society, the close and personal attention and web of support was very important to me.… With this kind of environment it only took me my freshman year to get integrated into this new community.”

Once he arrived at the College (which he had never seen in person before move-in day), Stojanow quickly got involved in what the campus had to offer. He participated in school clubs such as student government. He also joined the soccer team, which helped him gain friends quickly.

Now working in finance on Wall Street, Stojanow realizes how far his hard work and vision have taken him: he has transformed from a boy whose family thought any education costing more than $1,000 was ridiculously priced to a solid young professional. Having achieved his own American dream, Stojanow now claims he is ready to take on the world.