Final Post - MSF 2008

As the title says, this will be my final post of my MSF 2008 career - a career which ended last Monday at 1pm to be exact. It's amazing that time went so fast but here I am, done with my collegiate career (getting an MBA is still unclear at this point) at 23.

I'll be leaving behind a lot of good friends but I made them all a promise that I would come back and see them graduate assuming I get some time off. I can safely say that the MSF certainly prepares you to be a quantitative analyst. Through this program I was able to take classes such as VBA programming, Derivatives Securities and Corporate Valuation. Prior to entering Owen I worked as an Equity Research Analyst for a mutual fund. They had their own proprietary model in which the analyst simply puts in the inputs. Now, with my skills I've attained here, I feel that I can create that model, Macros and all. I know what the inputs mean and feel I can make more sense of the result. For that, I am very grateful to my teachers and my peers for their patience with me as I learned.

This year was difficult for some of my classmates; as you all know, the job market has been difficult with the turmoil of the housing sector and the US being on the brink of recession. A lot of really smart people in my program are still looking for jobs and I wish them the very best in their search. Just today I ran into Professor Cliff Ball - if you're an MSF you'll take a semester long econometrics course with him. Myself and three other MSF's took an independent study working on how to price Credit Default Swaps (CDS) with Professor Ball so we've had him for the entire year. It was an excellent experience and while difficult, very rewarding.

To the MSF's entering in the fall - I hope the job market gets better for you all...really, I do. I think for me, B-school was more about learning from others than it was learning from a textbook. I think my best studying was when I was working with peers and learning from their experience/wisdom in a certain subject. I like to think that I got more out of my friends and professors than than any book would have taught me. The point is, Owen draws many personalities/people with varied backgrounds. Be sure to make use of them and pay attention. To Chaya, I enjoyed your introduction blog, I think you'll be a great blogger next year (even if you are a hippie democrat! ;-) ) I'll be curious to see how you 'won't fit in at Owen'. I think you'll be surprised with how liberal people are with their ideas and their appliance of hot sauce to just about all things edible. We'll see.

Myself, well, I'm off to Hawaii working Risk Management. To those who know me, you know this is where I belong..I'm a West Coast/Island guy and ALWAYS will be.
To my first year MBA friends - I will miss you all...and I will be there for your graduation with personalized signs. I've already started to field reservations from some of you regarding a Hawaiian vacation for your spring break...keep it coming. I'll see you on the Islands.

To my fellow MSF class - We've been through quite a bit. I've worked with many of you until the wee hours and will also miss you all. The Thursday routine: Spreadsheets, Dart's, SAMS will always be a fond memory. And who could forget the Xmas party.

To the next MSF class - It's in your hands now. I wish you the best of luck in your academic and career endeavors. I'm very proud of my MSF class and I hope that when you graduate you will be just as proud to call them your classmates.

It's been real. You know the deal: Go RAIDERS in '08 and Go Warriors (Baron "BD" Davis is the most under-rated point in the NBA).

Aloha,

Alex Tellez, MSF 2008
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