Texas MS #StudentSpotlight: Abhas Mishra, MSF 2018

15 September 201716 February 2023 by canipec

Program:

Master of Science in Finance

Student Name:

Abhas Mishra

Graduating Class:

Class of 2018

Undergraduate Alma Mater:

University of Texas at Austin, Electrical Engineering

About Abhas:

I am Abhas Mishra and I am an avid traveler, photographer, and an aspiring finance professional. Three years ago, I completed my undergraduate in Electrical Engineering from UT Austin and went on to work for a large technology consulting firm as a Business Analyst. Business process engineering, requirements gathering and functional solution designing were some of my responsibilities. After over 1.5 years of consulting, I took a dramatic step of going solo backpacking for 6 months around various parts of India. I became a freelance photographer, writer and a blogger within a short span of 2 months. The experience taught me a lot and has brought me to where I am today: here at the prestigious McCombs School of Business.

Proudest Accomplishment:

Sustaining a positive mindset through the 6 months of rugged experience in rural parts of India is my proudest accomplishment. Challenges – such as going without food and collecting rain water to drink for 3 days, not being able to verbally communicate with anyone for a week, and feeling debilitated due to sickness while in a tribal village for 5 days – pushed me far beyond my comfort zone. Being a solo traveler, at every turn, I had to pick myself up and motivate myself to look beyond the discomforts. I feel proud to have gone through such a rigorous experience knowing that I am ready for more challenges in life ahead.

Why did you choose the MSF Program?

I had known Finance to be an area of interest since undergraduate. I would invest small amounts in the stock market and try to understand the dynamics and its drivers. Many of my friends went on to become finance professionals soon after college. Upon returning from my travels, I decided to pursue finance as a career. I appeared for the CFA Level I exam in December 2016 and passed it. After 4 months of rigorous studying for the exam, I realized there was not a moment when I felt stressed or disinterested. I knew Finance was definitely my field to pursue. When I applied to various MSF programs around the nation, Texas MSF was on the top of my list. Here I am today, a part of one of the most prestigious institutions in the world.

What are you most looking forward to in your program?

My highlight for this year is building new and long lasting friendships with my cohort. Going through classes, learning and building skills will surely be a priority, but I believe the company I keep for the rest of the year will truly determine the kind of experience I create for myself here at UT. Being surrounded by smart and driven individuals motivates me to go beyond my limits. Moreover, I hope to nurture professional relationships that will last beyond this year.

More on Texas MS Student Spotlight:

Texas MS #StudentSpotlight is a new feature showcasing the talent, background, and aspirations of the McCombs Master of Science Program students! Learn more about the Texas Master of Science in Finance on our homepage.

Current Texas MS students interested in appearing in our student spotlight should contact their Program Coordinator regarding access to the Student Spotlight Survey.

#TXMS Students Giving Back in Harvey Relief Efforts

12 September 201716 February 2023 by canipec

A Small Act of Service – Nishtha Sharma

The impact of Hurricane Harvey continues to felt across the gulf regions of Texas, with many still working to provide themselves and their families with basic necessities like water, food, and a place to sleep. In this time, Texas and the nation has come together to support those in need in a way that has been incredibly heart-warming to watch. One #TXMS Finance student mobilized her efforts after having her own family impacted by the devastation caused to the region.

Nishtha Sharma, MSF 2018, is a University of Texas undergrad alum in Biochemistry. Her journey as an MS Finance graduate student was only just beginning when Harvey hit. Her own family was in the path of the storm and were ultimately rescued from rising flood waters. Rather than feel helpless in Austin as she watched her family and friends struggle with the event, Nishtha began a Harvey relief drive, collecting canned foods, water, blankets, and first aid kids to be taken to Houston shelters in need of these supplies. Nishtha called this a “small act of service,” but it is the many small acts like hers that will allow so many families to rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Contributions to this blog were made by Texas MSM 2018 & Student Executive Committee Marketing Chair Mariah McFadin.

Texas MS #StudentSpotlight: Joshua Larky, MSBA 2018

22 August 201716 February 2023 by canipec

Program:

Master of Science in Business Analytics & Student Executive Committee Member 2018

Student Name:

Joshua Larky

Graduating Class:

Class of 2018

Undergraduate Alma Mater:

University of Redlands, BS in Economics

About Joshua:

I strive to explore all areas of life that interest me, and have a very diverse range of activities and hobbies I like to partake in. I am an avid rock climber, who enjoys anything that’s either outdoors, physically strenuous, or both. I play online chess, love Legos, and am a very well-versed cook. I am an extroverted introvert and a numbers nerd. Humor is important to keeping us all sane, and I can tell a good joke (or two).

Proudest Accomplishment:

My senior honors thesis was two years in the making, and I’m proud of my grit and my ability to continue working on a project, year-round. I always wanted to conduct research in a way that had never been done before, and my project was new territory for the baseball and economics community. I studied baseball team valuations, revenues, and attendance, and how these metrics moved with the national and local economies of the past 15 years. My paper provided evidence for Major League Baseball’s economic resilience during the recent great recession. Presenting to my economics committee, family, and friends was a great experience, and will always be my fondest academic memory from college.

Why did you choose the MSBA Program?

I have been fascinated with sports statistics ever since I can remember, memorizing the statistics on the backs of baseball cards as a child. While my passion for baseball cards has since tapered off, my love for sports and competition never wavered, and I now hope to pursue a career in sports analytics. The Business Analytics program at McCombs seemed to be the best fit for making this dream a reality, exposing me to all the skills necessary to succeed in the industry (R, Python, SQL). Also, I was born in Austin (but moved to San Diego at 13 months old), so coming to UT is kind of like discovering the roots I never had the chance to previously explore.

What are you most looking forward to in your program?

I’m excited for all the professional opportunities that this program will expose me to. Applying to jobs and networking while in college was a daunting and intimidating task. Working on my professional strategy in this environment will build my confidence, and I’m interested to learn about all the interesting analytics careers that I currently don’t know exist. Oh, and the predictive modeling classes. I’m looking forward to those, too!

More on Texas MS Student Spotlight:

Current Texas MS students interested in appearing in our student spotlight should contact their Program Coordinator regarding access to the Student Spotlight Survey.

Texas MS #StudentSpotlight: Monika Lodha, MSBA 2018

10 August 201716 February 2023 by canipec

Program:

Master of Science in Business Analytics

Student Name:

Monika Lodha

Graduating Class:

Class of 2018

Undergraduate Alma Mater:

Bachelor of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India

About Monika:

I am a graduate student at McCombs School of Business with the class of 2018, pursuing Master of Science in Business Analytics. I have a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and two years of professional experience with HSBC as a Business Analyst. My work experience so far has been quite diverse which includes working as an event manager, cofounding an educational consultancy startup, and as a part-time tutor teaching math to high school students, all of which eventually helped in improving my technical, organizational, leadership and marketing skills. People who know me the best describe me as a good dancer and I enjoy doing the same during leisure.

Proudest Accomplishment:

In any professional job I have ever worked in, I have always demonstrated the ability to deliver to the responsibilities shouldered upon me. While working with HSBC, I was given the responsibility to migrate a very crucial project to a visualization tool called QlikView. The huge cost associated with buying the license for having access to the data report was limiting the net productivity and was leading to a delay of the project deliverables by few months. During this course, I built an innovative tool within QlikView at no cost thus making the data report available to all business partners across the entire commercial banking analytics, and realizing its significance, it is now proposed to be deployed in other analytics teams within the firm. This was undoubtedly one of the most rewarding and proudest moments in my life as it earned me great appreciation from top leaders of the firm.

Why did you choose the MSBA Program?

My 2 year long experience with HSBC as a business analyst helped me understand the importance of not just doing the “right project” but to doing the “project right” through apt decisions. Having introduced to many data analysis tools made me realize the huge scope that analytics offered for business development along with its broad spectrum of applicability. But, I found myself lacking a foundation that would help me dive in and explore the analytics domain. MSBA at UT is exhilarating with its hands-on learning, highly competitive and collaborative setting in each of the courses with people from vivid backgrounds. In a short duration, we get to adapt and tackle the real-world situations, equip ourselves with required analytics skill-sets and make ourselves industry ready as analytics professionals. This really drove me to MSBA at UT.

What are you most looking forward to in your program?

My journey so far at UT has been very stimulating and has engaged me constantly into learning something new since the start. I feel fortunate to be amidst such a highly qualified cohort and am looking forward to learn from the analytical talents that each one of them has to offer. I am eagerly waiting for the upcoming corporate events that are aimed at making us familiar with corporate culture and network with some of the stalwarts and technical connoisseurs in analytics. I am keen at making the best out of the industry capstone project which would give me a quintessential exposure to the use and significance of analytics in business development while understanding the dynamics within the process.

More on Texas MS Student Spotlight:

Current Texas MS students interested in appearing in our student spotlight should contact their Program Coordinator regarding access to the Student Spotlight Survey.

Texas MS #StudentSpotlight: Anurag Agarwal, MSBA 2018

1 August 201716 February 2023 by gabylio

Program:

Master of Science in Business Analytics & Student Executive Committee Member 2018

Student Name:

Anurag Agarwal

Graduating Class:

Class of 2018

About Anurag:

I’m 24 years old, currently an MSBA candidate at the McCombs School of Business. I obtained my bachelors in Electrical Engineering from IIT Guwahati in 2015. For the past two years, I was working with FICO as an Analytics Consultant where I built credit risk models for banks in the Europe and Middle East region. As part of my job, I traveled globally to advise clients with data-driven strategies for running several banking portfolios. Prior to FICO, during college, I also pursued a summer internship at York University, Toronto where I collaborated with neuroscientists doing quantitative analysis on problems related to Parkinson’s disease.

Proudest Accomplishment:

As Placement Manager during the senior year of my undergrad, I was leading a team of 40 students in building university-corporate relationships with the aim of improving job opportunities for graduating students. The year long effort included fostering relationships recruiters, organizing career fairs, arranging career development workshops for students, and framing the policies of placement activities. We were able to raise the number of job offers by 20% from last year. But more importantly, just looking at my classmates getting jobs as a result of my efforts was the most rewarding and satisfying experience of my life.

Why did you choose the MSBA Program?

I was already working as an Analytics Consultant and I honestly loved my job, so it was not an easy decision for me to take a break from my career to start school again. But at the same time I wanted to become better at what I was doing and expand my professional network. The MSBA program at McCombs is one of the most prestigious programs in the US. And I’m sure that completing this year long program will boost my career and help me achieve my long term career goals.

What are you most looking forward to in your program?

Expanding my professional network is definitely my prime goal for this program. I’m really looking forward to making solid friendships within the McCombs community that I can cherish for the rest of my life.

More on Texas MS Student Spotlight:

Current Texas MS students interested in appearing in our student spotlight should contact their Program Coordinator regarding access to the Student Spotlight Survey.

Texas MS #StudentSpotlight: Harrison Tran, MSF 2018

28 July 201716 February 2023 by gabylio

Program:

Master of Science in Finance

Student Name:

Harrison Tran

Graduating Class:

Class of 2018

About Harrison:

Born and raised in Texas, I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I was a member of the Swimming & Diving Team and studied Economics. I’m happy to be returning to Texas as a part of McCombs’ MSF program and am excited to dive deeper into finance and collaborate with a diverse cohort, both of which will help prepare me to excel.

Proudest Accomplishment:

I’m most proud of the way I finished my career at Wisconsin. I progressed as a walk-on to a member of our Leadership Council and Olympic Trials and NCAA Championship Teams, all the while developing problem-solving skills through Economics. More importantly, I developed strong relationships with my teammates through our failures and successes.

Why did you choose the MSF Program?

The Texas MSF program will enhance my ability to apply my economics background to finance. There is an incredible amount of value in the technical training, professional development, and networking opportunities that are offered within this accelerated 10-month program.

What are you most looking forward to in your program?

I am most looking forward to learning relevant technical skills through both the core courses and the specialized electives, and having the opportunity to apply these skills to real business projects through the practicum.

More on Texas MS Student Spotlight:

Current Texas MS students interested in appearing in our student spotlight should contact their Program Coordinator regarding access to the Student Spotlight Survey.