Mentor Meeting #1 - Jones

Over the past year I have been meeting once a month with a mentor, Greg. I met him at a Wheaton College business club event, where several businessmen from the area hosted a panel discussion about their careers and in what ways Wheaton students can do well in the realm of business and finance. After the panel was over I went and introduced myself to Greg who would eventually be my mentor. After a few minutes of talking, he handed me his card and told me to reach out if I ever wanted to get breakfast and talk more about life and career stuff. 

I reached out a few days later and I invited me to breakfast with him. After a while of talking I realized that he was looking for this to be a mentor type of relationship, which worked out well since I had been praying for a mentor, specifically someone a few years older than me to meet with. Greg grew up in the Wheaton area and was recruited to play soccer at Augustana College. After graduating Augustana, he worked at Elkhorn selling ETFs, and now works at Trust Company of Illinois.

The goal of the initial first meeting was to get to know me better. Since he grew up in Wheaton too, he knew a lot of the same people that I had grown up with. I shared with him that I had a desire to go into finance after graduation. Because my Dad works in finance, specifically in sales in the bond industry, I've always pictured myself pursing a career in the financial realm. After coming to Wheaton and meeting with several professors and upper classmen, I've becoming increasingly interested in finance and specifically investment banking. One of my goals at this point is to graduate Wheaton and pursue a career in New York City.

Greg was impressed overall at my desire for pursing a very competitive and intense career path. He encouraged me with several networking tips and advice for different active steps I can be taking in order to make myself the best possible candidate that I can be for a job like this.

Throughout our first mentor meeting, I became very aware how significant he relationship with the Lord is. Even now as he just sent me an email he is always very quick to let me know that he is praying for me and cares about my relationship with the Lord first. After our first meeting in February, he was quick to follow up with me and give me tips on boosting my resume and elevator pitch. I am very excited to meet with him more in the future.