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Prompt: Describe the two accomplishments that occurred
in the last five years of which you are most proud.
Strategic Advisory for American Savings Bank
In January 1994,my group was engaged by Robert Bass' Keystone
Partners to evaluate their investment in California company,
the culminating point of a five-year banking relationship.
Keystone Partner however, engaged Goldman Sachs as co-advisor,
thereby infuriating the Lehman team. We swore to keep control
of the valuation process by solely handling the modeling work
including complex simulations and projections, which I was
solely responsible for. I quickly drafted a couple of pages
that I distributed to both teams. Overnight, the Goldman team
reproduced them line by line and sent them directly to the
client as their work. It was a great strike against our team.
I decided to design a completely different model, and to draw
upon the information that I could gather from a long and fruitful
client relationship with Lehman Brothers. I convinced the
senior vice president, vice president and associate who had
covered the company for years to pass on their knowledge,
persuaded them to be available for 36 hours straight to answer
all my questions, and for four more hours to be trained by
me on the model. I designed a 23 page model, stuffed with
information, that we presented to the 42 person working team,
gathered at our request. The presentation, led by myself for
technical explanations and the senior vice president for strategic
conclusions, was a great success. The Goldman Senior Partner,
recognizing the "excellency" of our model, proposed that I
remain in charge of "all the number".
I value this experience because I gained respect from the
senior executives at all three firms. But most of all, although
one of the most junior banker, I was able to inspire a cohesive
spirit to our team in pursuing our goal to produce a high
quality presentation.
Learning to Surf
My move to Los Angeles in August 1992 represented not only
a great professional challenge-to work with only two senior
bankers and cover all California financial institutions-but
also a personal opportunity, a chance to broaden my horizons.
I grew up in Paris and lived in the capital for 21 years before
moving to New York; I definitely was a city girl! Los Angeles
demanded however that I adapted to a whole different world,
where sport rather than opera rhythms the season. I knew that
my first year in the Los Angeles office would be extremely
busy due to the small size of my group. In fact I averaged
90 hours of work per week that year. To keep my sanity and
maintain a good spirit, I resolved to try and learn a sport
that had always fascinated me: surfing. Thus I bought a brand
new wetsuit and longboard and started the experience bright
and early on a sunny Saturday afternoon under the merciless
scrutiny of the local surfers, all males, who did not hide
their contempt for my pale skin and weak arms so typical of
investment banking Corporate Analysts. Surfing seemed at first
an impossible mission: my board always mysteriously rebounded
on my head, while the waves would break exactly where I was
paddling. At work, there was an explosion of laughter when
I proudly exposed my (only) personal project: why, a twenty-six
year old Parisian, surfing? This had to be French humor! I
resolved however to practice every week-end before coming
into the office. Last summer, I finally stood up on my board
and rode the wave to the beach. It was one of the most exhilarating
moments of my life and although I still surf regularly, nothing
matches my first wave nor the pride that I felt. Because I
received little help and encouragement but prevailed, I cherish
this experience which was actually a tremendous confidence
builder.
** ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE COMMENTS: **
The writer demonstrates a nice balance between her professional
and her personal achievements. Her first accomplishment shows
the essayist to be a savvy business professional and highlights
her good political sense, dedication, and technical skill.
The second accomplishment rounds out the image by painting
a picture of a young, healthy, active woman willing to take
risks and learn new skills at the expense of laughter and
embarrassment. The latter may have been a personal achievement,
but these translate into very lucrative professional skills
as well.
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