Lucy Sheftel
Bethel Park, PA
Major: Finance
Growing up along the coast of the Black Sea in
southern Russia, at the age of 15, Lucy Sheftel never imagined
she would travel to Nancy, France for a year of study abroad in
1997-98, or win 2nd Prize in the National Alliance Francaise competition
for excellence in French and essay writing, or hold a summer 1999
internship with NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc., in Washington, DC,
and then take on a research internship at the European Parliament
in Luxembourg the fall of that same year. Nor did Lucy ever dream
that at the present time she would be living in Paris and working
for PriceWaterhouseCoopers, in exactly the area of her greatest
interest, international finance!
"As you might guess, a lot of unexpected things happened,
starting when I was studying in high school in Russia. For example,
at 15, I received a United States Government scholarship to spend
my junior year at a high school in Seattle. At the end of that
year, I came back home to Russian and finished up my senior year
at my original high school. Then my father moved to the United
States. I joined him and I finished another senior year -- this
time at Bethel Park High School. After graduation, I went right
on to IUP and the Honors College. Now, I seem to be doing sort
of the same thing at the college level -- by the end of this year
I'm going to have two university degrees. I already have a diploma
here in France, from Institut Commercial de Nancy, the seventh
best business school in France. And, in May of 2001 I'll receive
my degree from the Honors College."
Lucy credits the Honors College, its director, Dr. Janet Goebel,
and her professors in Finance and French, for making all this
possible.
"Part of what attracted me to IUP was the wide variety
of classes in my major (then Economics, later Finance) and because
I really liked the Honors College. The students here really want
to learn and the professors are really willing to help them learn,
and to help in all kinds of ways. Professors like that make all
the difference. The French Department helped me get my internship
abroad with the European Parliament and Dr. Goebel found the NASDAQ
internship for me and encouraged me to apply. I joke about it,
but I mean it when I say the best advice I ever got in my life
was from my parents – and Dr. Goebel. Along with all of that,
the Honors College made the PriceWaterhouseCoopers internship
possible and let me use an independent study finance project in
Paris as part of my Honors College credits. I just completed a
research paper, "Influence of Day-trading on Financial Market
Volatility," in cooperation with Dr. Boldin, from IUP's Eberly
College of Business. And, one of the advantages of independent
study is that you can use your project paper to apply to graduate
school, since they typically ask for a sample, research paper,
or undergraduate thesis."
Along with her research paper, Lucy Sheftel also has one notable
publication to her credit.
"While I was interning in Luxembourg, I wrote a 15 to
20 page paper, which the European Parliament published in December,
1999. I wrote on 'Financial Services in the European Union,' which
includes issues such as securities exchange, banking and insurance.
I can use that as well for a graduate school application. And,
again, thanks to Dr. Goebel, who told me about it, I'm applying
for one of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans,
which as they say, 'provide[s] opportunities for continuing generations
of able and accomplished New Americans to achieve leadership in
their chosen fields and to partake of the American dream.' Hey!
That's me – a new American!"
Back here, at home, after her first study abroad and her NASDAQ
internship in Washington, Lucy Sheftel became a member of the
IUP Finance Association.
"I learned a lot here, and – what's really important
– I learned to work with other people. I also did some community
service with the American Red Cross, doing some note-taking for
disabled students. In, fact, I got so involved with internships
and study abroad that I decided to postpone my graduation for
a year, just to get everything done. And, along with all that,
the Honors College pushed us to attend a lot of fine arts events
-- museums, theater, ballet, art exhibits – things I might
never have gone to otherwise. Dr. Goebel and the staff at the
Honors College always let us know, usually by e-mail, when something
good was coming. It was one more nice surprise, for me, in belonging
to the Honors College."
As Lucy moved through the program, her goals -- and her accomplishments
-- seemed to grow larger with each passing semester. For a while,
she imagined that a reasonable career, based on her major, might
be as a stockbroker.
"In fact, though, I see it taking me to Financial Analysis,
Auditing, maybe Business Analysis – which is much better
than what I was dreaming about in the beginning. Of course, my
real dream would be to end up on the Board of Directors at NASDAQ!"
Right now, Lucy is actually working in Paris for PriceWaterhouseCoopers,
where she completed a summer internship. NASDAQ, as it happens,
is opening one its many worldwide offices in Paris.
"Right now, I'm working as a financial auditor, dealing
with different companies, checking their various financial statements,
among other things. I'm also working on a very special international
financial audit, for PWC, who represents the one central bank
of Moldavia -- a small country near Rumania. The Central Bank
of Moldavia, is PriceWaterhouseCoopers' biggest client and this
bank manages the whole economy of the country. And I get to work
with it! Of course I couldn't imagine at 15, that this would all
happen. Now, every year, it seems, I think back, and I have to
say 'I didn't imagine I would be here in a year, doing this, doing
that.' It's like a dream."
On graduation, Lucy Sheftel plans to begin her MBA in a good school,
and wants, one day, to accomplish something useful in her professional
life. Fluent in three languages – English, Russian and French
– Lucy intends to find work in international stock exchange
and global financial markets integration. Real dreams. Real plans.
Real opportunities….
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