Belk College Graduate Student Ambassadors enjoy interacting with potential new students — like you!— and can help answer questions about the program.
Please reach out directly to the Ambassador to learn more about what it's like being a full-time MAFI student.
2023-2024 M.S. in Mathematical Finance Ambassador: Joseph Obonyo
Program (Full-Time, Part-Time): Full-Time
Concentration/Area of Emphasis: Computational Finance
Anticipated Graduation: May 2024
Previous Institutions and Degrees: Drew University, B.A. in Economics
Favorite Place in Charlotte: Optimist Hall
Hometown: Nairobi, Kenya
Dream Job: Derivatives/Quantitative Analyst
Why are you pursuing an M.S. in Mathematical Finance at the Belk College of Business? Having interned and worked full-time in derivatives sales and trading, I wanted to improve my understanding of the technical details of markets and risk modeling. Charlotte is the perfect place for this type of education. It is a city full of opportunities in financial services.
Connecting with People
Joseph Obonyo ’24, MAFI Ambassador, shares his insights on forming meaningful connections while in grad school
Every student at every university has been told about the importance of networking and has undoubtedly put forth their best effort to take advantage of the opportunities afforded to them. While being goal-oriented at organized networking events can help you get to where you want to go, shifting your perspective towards connecting with the people you interact with in everyday situations can go even further. There are valuable conversations to be had with everyone you encounter.
The Mathematical Finance program connects you with experienced professors, classmates of diverse academic backgrounds and alumni who have lived through the experience you are going through. Connecting with each of these brilliant people is invaluable.
Every day you will be in classes full of fellow motivated students. Some of your classmates will have little professional experience while others will be many years into their career. Remember the downtime you have before and after a class, or during program meetups, can be a great opportunity to build deeper connections with your peers. This will translate well to professional environments by strengthening your ability to leverage conversations and networking with peers and colleagues. Connecting during conversations will become something you do naturally.
Take time every day to appreciate that you’re living through an experience that you will never have again and the moments that have the biggest impact on your life will come from connecting with the people who are accompanying you on this journey in the MAFI program.