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A summer internship at New England Financial, New York City, has helped Andrew Brown ’06 land a job offer as a financial planner with the firm.
An economics and business major who is also a standout defensive performer in football and a shot-put and discus-throw specialist on the track and field team, Brown, originally from Windsor, Ont., is hoping for an opportunity to continue his gridiron career in the Canadian Football League next year.
But, as he puts it, “The internship has given me career options.”
He says, “I’m still going to train and keep that goal of going further into football, but my theory has always been, ‘Your football career can be over at any time.’ So I need to prepare myself as if I weren’t going to be playing next year.”
He’s already thinking about the challenges of a career as a financial planner.
“The internship gave me the skills and abilities to gain clients. Initially, trying to build a client base is going to be the hardest part. But having done client searches and observed meetings with agents and their current clients, I’ve seen what I need to do,” he says. “High-ranking agents with high-value clients took me under their wing and gave me a feel for how things work. They showed me what it takes.”
Part of what it takes is a strong work ethic and lots of motivation and resourcefulness, attributes Brown has gained through his athletic experiences.
“One of my bosses, Victor Goldman ’96, said great athletes always do well in this business because what it takes to be a good athlete and financial planner are the same,” explains Brown, who is president of Sports Marketing Club and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, in addition to being co-founder and co-president of Lafayette’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Brown credits his experiences in academics, athletics, and extra-curricular activities for the skills that helped to make his internship so successful.
“At Lafayette, students learn how to be leaders,” he says. “There are opportunities for everyone, so if you take the initiative, you can accomplish things. There are a lot of different avenues for involvement, and if there’s not a program you’re looking for, there’s opportunity to start one.
A graduate of W.F. Herman Secondary School, Windsor, Ont., Brown is involved with Lafayette’s Senior Class Fund Drive, which plans to create a stipend for a student participating in an unpaid summer internship in 2006.