We’ve followed Fox School students Meredith Orme, Robert Zurzolo and Nasir Mack since their early days at Temple University, where they provided us with their hidden talents and hobbies. We were reacquainted with the trio as they started their sophomore trek. Last year, we talked about 2020 time capsules and trends. Years after our first conversations with them, Orme and Zurzolo have graduated, while double-major Mack is set to graduate in 2022.
As part of our last check-in, we asked the group to react to an interview of themselves from their first year. To watch them take a trip down memory lane, click here.
Nasir Mack, Business Management and Media Studies and Production double major
You’ve talked about your 10-year vision…
That vision for ten years from now, when I’ll be 29, is for me to commence my lifelong journey of becoming a CEO and create a company that will reach out to the world as a social mover, so to speak.
What do you want to do with that company?
Last summer, there was so much happening with Black Lives Matter and civil unrest. But what people don’t realize is there was a lot of content captured. There were important videos and photos that I’m going to remember forever. Imagine if there was a place or company that could capture all of these things and all of these stories.
How has the Fox School assisted your endeavours?
The Fox School has contributed a lot, not only to my learning but also to how I ultimately maximize and monetize my problem-solving and how to think about the world.
Meredith Orme, Accounting and Legal Studies double major
Looking back to freshman year’s initial interviews…
It’s definitely a little crazy, but I really like being able to go back and see the interview I gave as a first-year student, the responses I wrote down on paper and compare how I felt then with now. I felt almost scared. I felt like I was faking it until I made it and figured things out! As these four years have progressed, I’ve continued to learn and get real-world experience. I really feel like I belong in the business school.
How have professors at the Fox School influenced your college career?
My professors have always tried to make what I’ve wanted to do in my career happen. That’s how it’s been in all my classes at the Fox School, even through things like small assignments. If I wanted to tweak things in them to make it more applicable to the real world and what I was interested in, they’d say “absolutely.” They’ve been there to help me fulfill my goals and support me through them
Robert Zurzolo, Finance and Accounting double major
What was it like to deal with the coronavirus as portfolio manager at the Owl Fund?*
*The Owl Fund is a student-managed investment fund. A staff of around 20 students manage a portion of Temple’s endowment each year.
This was all of our first experience with anything that destabilized the market as much as the pandemic. This was a huge learning experience for all of us. We’d never actually seen any market volatility before. Since our initial reaction to it, we’ve been learning ever since. It’s been really interesting.
What have you learned?
It was a little unsettling to try to differentiate between what is good and bad for us and our families as we invest in things such as healthcare companies that are reacting to the needs of the market due to COVID-19. I think this was a really nice dose of reality for all of us. It was kind of a wake up call wrapped up with gaining more experience. Things do go wrong, and it really helped us learn how to react to that.
What advice would you give to new students at Temple University?
I give tours to prospective students, and I always tell them to talk to as many students who are one to two years older than they are. They have up-to-date information on the job market, what you should be applying for and what information is useful to include on applications. That’s been the biggest resource for me