My Life at Johns Hopkins University

By Yaqi HUANG (International Finance 112)

Eight months has passed since my graduation. I never stop missing Johns Hopkins University and Washington D.C..

Study at JHU

I applied for Master of Finance program at Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins University. The whole program lasts for one year, during which we have to finish 36 credits (18 courses) in three semesters. The program is intensive, comprehensive and practical.

My favorite coursesare Financial Modeling, Quantitative Finance and Mergers & Acquisition.

Financial Modeling is very interesting, and we need to use Excel and Crystal Ball to run projection and regression analysis. Professors taught us how to construct models “hand-in-hand”, as every step we take would be viewed by the professor and he would give us immediate feedback. Quantitative Finance introduced MatLab, which is really important and practical for your career. M&A is full of real-world cases. We discussed deals that happened every week and we also made our own bold assumptions. Our team selected Amazon as the buyer and Netflix as the target and we made a thorough analysis on this fictitious deal. These are new worlds for me. I am working in a Private Equity firm now in Shanghai, and I am so grateful for courses JHU provided for us. These courses taught me essential skills needed for work.

Students at Carey are all in high quality. They studied hard, and tried hard to get internships during the program. I have seen students who went to every kind of networking events, went to the Career Development office to practice interviews with our tutors just in order to be well prepared. Some of my classmates chose to complete another degree. Part of them went to New York City. There were more opportunities in NYC. Part of them stayed in DC and read a second degree at JHU. Some of my classmates chose to come back to China directly after graduation. But in any one of those choices, I would say our JHUers can always find their best way.

I graduated in August 2016. Our graduation ceremony was held at Baltimore, a very romantic city in Maryland.

Life at DC

Washington DC is a city with parks, museums, embassies, the White House, and cherry blossoms. In my spare time, I would pay a visit to museums to learn American history and make friends. Every year, the White House would open to public twice with the name “The Garden Tour”. I went inside the White House and was really impressed by the scenery inside. In April, people come to DC to enjoy the Cherry Blossom Festival. There are hundreds of cherry trees around the Tidal Basin, and around Tidal Basin, and there are Washington Monument and The Jefferson Memorial. People like to go for barbecues or go hiking on the weekend, and there are plenty of national parks around DC.

In the past, I like to stay at home, or go out for movies with friends. I hardly go to museums or go to parks. It would a big thing to go to museum, or I have to drive or transport for a long distance for a park. But in DC, these are easy and common. Museums are everywhere, such asSmithsonian National Museum of Natural History,Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum,Newseum, National Gallery of Art and etc. There are plenty of museums with different themes, and most of the museums are free. On the weekend, I can also go to the park. It only takes ten minutes to walk to a big nice park. My professor used to bring us there for a barbecue. You can always see people playing football, children laughing, and some people barbecuing.

I also found an internship in Baltimore. Since DC is actually next to the state of Maryland, it’s very convenient to go to Baltimore. I interned at the Maryland Small Business Development Center (Maryland SBDC) for three months. The Maryland SBDC was established in 1988. It provided sound advice, consulting and support to entrepreneurs and small businesses across the state. The Maryland SBDC is part of the national SBDC Network. Maryland SBDC is a partnership between the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of Maryland and the University of Maryland, College Park. SBDC links private enterprise, government, higher education and local economic development organizations to proffer high-quality training, confidential consulting and market and industry research to Maryland’s small businesses. Each week, I spend three days at the Baltimore office. Since I lived in the State of Virginia, I took train at the Union Station to the Penn Station at Baltimore. It only took me 50 minutes for the train, and Penn Station is only 15minutes away from my office. I enjoyed my internships at the Maryland SBDC. It gave me a chance to deeply understand another city.

Life in US

I traveled to California, Alaska, Mexico and Cuba during the vacations. California is totally different from the DC. People there were full of energy. They were not so disciplined as people in the DC. I went to the famous Highway 1, paid a visit to the Napa Valley, which is famous for its red wines. I also visited small towns on the Highway 1 such as Carmel and Solvang. In March 2016, I went to Alaska for the aurora, and was amazed by the snowy mountain and beautiful aurora. In summer, I went to Mexico and Cuba with another two girls. This experience is really an adventure. People in Mexico and Cuba were passionate and enthusiastic. They were born with the gift of dancing and singing. I was the only one who can drive, so I was the driver and the photographer of the trip. It was tiring, but interesting.

The one-year study at JHU is quite short, but I think my life has changed from this experience. I learned more than a degree. I learned different cultures, I learned how to solve problems using practical methods, and I learned that we need to be curious and courageous. I will come back to US in the future if I have a chance.