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Coral Maizler ’08 (Brooklyn, N.Y.) learned about bank mergers first-hand through an internship with Grammer & Co., a general management-consulting firm in New York City.
“I learned a lot about how the business world really works,” says Maizler, a mathematics-economics major. “And it was great to learn from someone who had been in the business for a long time and really knows his field.”
Spending one month shadowing Ed McNally ’65, managing director of Grammer & Co., she participated in a number of meetings with top executives relating to the merger of three banks, created a consumer satisfaction survey, composed the company’s winter newsletter, helped develop a commercial lending business plan, and produced a power point presentation for the New York Commercial Bank, in Long Island.
Maizler praised McNally for the time he spent with her throughout her internship.
“He included me in everything and he was teaching me the whole time,” Maizler says. “I’m a 19-year-old intern and he made me feel so special because he really trusted me to do things. I couldn’t have asked for a better host.”
McNally also taught her to analyze and compare banks from a financial standpoint and gave her pointers on reading the Wall Street Journal. These lessons have already helped her in courses she’s taking.
Calling Maizler “an exceptional young woman,” McNally was particularly impressed by her ability to comprehend so much of the consulting firm’s business at such a young age.
“We generally prefer to take seniors as interns because they are older and more experienced,” McNally explains. “Although she is a sophomore, her work equaled that of any of the juniors and seniors who have interned with us in the past. She worked closely with me on two different consulting projects, wrote our newsletter, and attended a number of meetings with clients outside the office. I simply cannot say enough good things about her.”
Maizler hadn’t eagerly considered the field of banking before her internship, but now her interests have broadened.
“I really liked consulting,” she observes. “It had a personal feel to it. It wasn’t just working with numbers. It was more interactive.”
“[The internship is] just a great thing to have done,” she adds, also noting that she plans to participate in more internships during her undergraduate career. “It will help me figure out what I enjoy.”
McNally enjoys working with Lafayette interns and makes sure students gain valuable experience during their time at Grammer & Co.
“It’s one of my favorite ways of giving back to Lafayette,” he observes. “All the Lafayette interns we’ve had are bright and willing to work hard. They are all the kinds of kids you’d be proud to have as your own kids.”
For that reason, the interns always do hands-on work that they can use after they graduate.
“Some of our interns have gotten very good jobs. Employers like the fact that students have this kind of internship,” notes McNally.
Maizler is a Posse Scholar and serves as vice president of membership for Pi Beta Phi sorority. She is also a volunteer for the Easton Boys and Girls Club.
The Posse Foundation identifies, recruits, and trains student leaders from urban public high schools to form multicultural teams called “posses.” Following an intensive eight-month recruitment and pre-college training program the teams enroll at top-tier colleges and universities nationwide to pursue their academics and help promote cross-cultural communication. In addition to New York, where Posse is headquartered, there are sites in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.