I wanted to use this post to discuss something that has been a special part of my experience at Olin. I currently serve as the President of the Washington University Real Estate Club, to which I devote a large percentage of my extracurricular efforts. I believe my experience speaks to the sheer number of opportunities Olin has to offer.
As President of Real Estate club, I have been able to apply my Olin education outside the classroom by confronting the challenges of leading an organization and managing people. I have also been able to foster relationships with students and faculty members whom I would not have met otherwise. Working with and learning from these individuals has been a truly rewarding experience. Due to the diverse backgrounds and interests of our members, Real Estate club provides a forum for an exchange of knowledge and new perspectives on a subject for which we all have passion. As a result, our members learn to converse fluently about the industry and provide potential employers with innovative, original proposals. This dynamic has benefitted me on a personal level. For example, I have been able to study and learn about the architectural component of many real estate projects, a critical subject to which I had not been exposed previously.
An additional benefit of leading Real Estate club has been my exposure to the St. Louis area and its surrounding communities. Even though students spend time off campus, their plans often revolve around only the Central West End and The Loop. While Real Estate Club is not the only student organization that explores St. Louis, I do believe it is the one organization where one can examine St. Louis on economic, social, and creative fronts simultaneously. Many of our tours have been of projects that were transformational for different neighborhoods of the city. Each visit adds to our education about the characteristics of the city in which we live as well as to our appreciation of an oft-ignored urban landscape.
This experience has also made me more confident in regards to my future in the industry and the business world in general. For example, I was hired for my internship this past summer because of my proficiency in certain software that I had been introduced to at a Real Estate club event. The real estate club is not alone in giving students new opportunities. Two of my close friends partially attributed their attainment of positions in equity research firms due to the experience they gained as part of the Student Investment Fund. They also believe this experience is one of the reasons they succeeded on the job. All of this speaks to the tremendous opportunities for learning outside the classroom Olin has created. Dean Malter and Dean Gupta have done a tremendous job of ensuring students have as much practical, hands on experience as possible.
The last point I want to make is particularly important, and one it took me a while to appreciate. Students at Olin are extremely fortunate to spend their college years in St. Louis. While we have access to opportunities that only exist in city-environments., we also do not suffer from competing in an overwhelming market like New York or Chicago where the demand for undergraduates is quite low. For this reason WashU students stand out and have the ability to get in contact with industry leaders.
As President, I have been lucky enough to get in touch with almost any real estate executive in St. Louis that I have wanted to talk to. Interacting with and learning from these leaders is an extraordinary opportunity that no one should take for granted. Furthermore, members of our club have been able to acquire fascinating internships, working on complex and multi-phase projects that involve various business sectors from government and community relations to construction and finance. It is hard to imagine that other students our age, no matter where they attend school, can say they’ve had these opportunities.
