During these unique times, navigating physical distance, managing classes online, and adjusting to new living situations may mean that it is time to sharpen your resiliency reserves. 

Resilience is one’s ability to recover from difficulties. It is thought that resilience can be learned and includes being aware of, and changing how we think about events from initially negative to more positive appraisals. For example, 

• “The pandemic is going to make it impossible for me to find a job, why even try!”  

While it is true that it might be more challenging to find a job after graduating, another way to look at this challenge is,

• “While I may not be able to find the exact job I was hoping for, I have skills in being able to work online, and can add a lot to a company. I am going to apply to a wide range of positions!” 

The first statement might leave you feeling defeated and not wanting to do anything while the second statement validates the difficulties and invites creative action! 

Resilience is based in positive psychology and incorporates other factors such as optimism and positive emotions. Resiliency is not a trait that only some people have but is instead a set of behaviors, thoughts, and actions that one can take during times of distress. The best part is that resiliency can be built. A few ways to build resilience are:

• Build your connections.

• Have strong relationships and connections with understanding people who can support you during difficult times.

• Invest in your health and well-being.

• Make sure to take care of your mind, body, and spirit with healthful techniques.

• Explore your purpose.

• Transform large goals into smaller ones, take advantage of classes or opportunities that help you to discover yourself, or find time to help others.

• Embrace healthy and positive thoughts.

• Keep perspective about the present moment, accept the changes happening around you, learn from past experiences, and look toward the future with hope.

• Seek help early and often.

• Reach out to family, friends, or professionals when you need help either physically or emotionally during a challenging time.

The Counseling Center has resources to support your cultivation of resilience, including:  

• You’ve Got This: Four-Week Resilience-Building Webinar - for more information and to register go to myUMBC.

• Next Round: Mondays 1 – 2:30 p.m., beginning November 2

• WellTrack - free app for UMBC students with materials to address depression, anxiety/stress, and public speaking with the very new addition of resilience materials to tackle overwhelming feelings. It includes a new course on resiliency to help you understand your feelings during this time of crisis, and helps teach techniques and perspective to apply when these feelings can seem overwhelming.

The Counseling Center is here to support you. Visit counseling.umbc.edu for information on services and additional webinars. You can also follow their myUMBC group.

Name:Carol Canales

Internship, Co-op or Research Site:Morgan Stanley 

Position Title:Summer Analyst for Finance Division

Major(s)/Minor(s):Financial Economics

Current Class Level:Senior

Work Term:Summer 2020

*Don’t miss UMBC CONNECTS: Morgan Stanley , a virtual recruitment event on Wednesday, September 30, to learn how you could land an amazing, career-relevant opportunity like Carol’s!

Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.

This was Morgan Stanley's first year being remote, so they condensed the program in the hopes that we would be in person for a small portion, but instead we had an incredible, well structured 6 week program. Instead of being assigned to a department team, we were divided into Pods with 3 Pod Leaders who had different senior roles in the Finance division. Our day to day included department deep dive sessions to develop an understanding of Morgan Stanley Business. We also learned more functions while interacting with Finance Leadership and during Pod Lead and mentor check-in. Every week there were assigned case studies, where we implemented excel training and drills. We worked on our group research project, my group had Banking Regulations. We did shadowing sessions with full time analysts to learn more about their roles and experiences. We also had weekly Diversity & Inclusion discussions which allowed us to express how we felt in current times and how we can uphold this core value.

Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?

I heard about the program at the Career Fair and the recruiter had me apply through the Morgan Stanley's careers site and I submitted the application for both the Operations and Finance programs towards the end of February 2020, after getting my resume polished through the Career Center. I heard back and received first round interviews for both, which then moved to be remote since the company was transitioning to telework due to COVID-19. The Career Center did a great job at providing me with virtual interview prep, which helped me feel confident about my Finance phone interview and the final rounds for each division, each included 3 back to back 30 minute interviews through Zoom. I got a phone call from my recruiter and got offers for both programs, so I was excited to choose Finance! I accepted the offer the first week of April and the recruiter kept constant contact about onboarding and the structure of the program.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization? 

I loved that they provided us with meaningful workshops about self promotion and geared them towards women, such as fireside chats and allowing us to speak with the CFO and CEO of Morgan Stanley!

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

I believe I impressed my pod leaders and mentors through my final presentation and debriefs on my case studies. I did practice run throughs with my mentor and always ended up presenting first, which helped me set the tone for the other interns. When we met in our cross-divisional pods, I represented the finance division very well and helped other interns understand profit and loss, monthly financial and management reports. 

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience? 

Do your research on the companies that you are looking to apply to. Do they share similar values as you? How supportive are they in terms of career growth or job mobility? I noticed from those interviewing me, that there are people who have been at the firm for over 25 years, and you should ask them what made them stay and you need to know where your interests are aligned in the firm.

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Want to be the next Intern of the Week?Make sure to fill out this form and stay tuned. New interns are announced every Monday!