GC may be one of Georgia’s smaller universities, but it is growing and changing every year to accommodate the interests of its students. In fall 2022, GC added a new major to the J. Whitney Bunting College of Business and Technology: finance.

Lauren Moskowitz is a senior at GC who is a double major in finance and economics, two fields that go hand-in-hand. As an underclassman, she had many interests in finance but she loved GC too much to transfer to a university that offered degrees in finance specifically. Even before studying economics and business, however, her interest was in science. She says this is not uncommon for people on her career path, because both require one to have an analytical mind.

“Funnily enough, before I started here, I was going to be a chemistry major,” Moskowitz said. “It is really crazy,but a lot of economics and finance people started out in the science fields because they like the more analytical research side of it. They just like the business part.”

Moskowitz was able to find the right major after dabbling in a few departments, mostly by identifying what she knew she did not want to spend her life doing. 

Only some students come into college knowing exactly what they want to do. Sometimes, students have only a general idea of where their interests lay and then they have to try several majors and class subjects before discovering where they truly find the most overlap between their interests and their skill sets. From this overlap, one can begin to form a career path.

“I switched my major to management before I really got started as a chemistry major, but I did not really know what I wanted to do,” Moskowitz said. “I wanted to be in the business world and I knew it was where I would fit in, but I didn’t want to start my own company.”

The type of work that was involved in management did not strike interest in Moskowitz.

“I was actually recruited by the accounting major but I just didn’t want to sit at a desk all day and number crunch and do taxes,” Moskowtiz said. “Then I was taking one of my economics classes and I was like, ‘They do not have finance as a major, but I love this school, and I do not want to transfer.’ You need economics in finance, so let me study economics.”

Studying what she is passionate about has helped Moskowitz to become an exceptional individual. She is the president of the Finance Club, was the Vice President of Finance in her sorority Kappa Delta and is a member of the honor societies for economics (Omicron Delta Epsilon) and accounting, finance and management information systems (Beta Alpha Psi). She was also a part of a recruiting board to find and hire finance professor Dr. Xiaomeng Lu. 

Furthermore, she was one of 12 students in the country to receive Charles Schwab’s Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) Talent Advantage (RIATA) Student Scholarship. She will also be presenting research at a conference this month and has received scholarships from GC and Kappa Delta.

Moskowitz spent last summer completing an internship with Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s leading investment firms. She has also received a job offer from this company and plans to go on to work at their Buckhead firm after graduating.

“I will be working in executive financial management,” Moskowitz said. “I hope to work there for a few years and then go back to school and get my master’s in, hopefully, financial engineering and go into the options derivative market.”

Finance has typically been a male-dominated field in the past, but Moskowitz says she has not been treated any differently than her male counterparts at Goldman Sachs.

“Over the summer, when I was working at Goldman Sachs, at those big companies, you do think the ‘oh, a woman does not belong here’ sort of thing is the stereotype,” Moskowitz said. “But when I got there, they did not care who you are or what you look like or any of that. If you can do good work, they will love you.”

Moskowitz never felt looked down upon for being a businesswoman at GC, either.

“I can text the guys in my major and be like, ‘Hey, do y’all want to study for this quiz or test?’ or say, ‘Hey, I am having trouble with this. Can you help me out?’ and it is not like, ‘oh, she’s having trouble because she is a girl.’ They are like, ‘Oh, yeah, and I was struggling with this one. Can you help me?’ It is cool because we get to bounce ideas back and forth.”

Moskowitz’s time studying economics and, more recently, finance at GC has prepared her to work at Goldman Sachs after graduation. This opportunity is not something given out to students who have not worked hard and put immense effort into their studies. Fortunately for Moskowitz, all of her work is beginning to pay off.