April 9th, 2007 by Matt Brattin
My first draft of this 4th chapter of my bio was twice as long as it is now. After much contemplation, I decided to hack out over half of it, as I felt the detail was just too much. Hopefully I did the right thing, now please enjoy!
Chapter 4: Closure, and a New Beginning!
Re-Entry
Upon my return to the US I underwent a slight re-adjustment period. I felt like I had so much to tell everyone I hadn’t seen in eight months, yet, I was often disappointed because I continuously found myself ending stories with the much dreaded, “I guess you had to be there.” I was offered a warm welcome home, don’t get me wrong, it was just that I found difficulty relating to my friends and family right away. Eventually school found it’s way back into session and I began to get back into the swing of things, but even then I knew I was a changed person.
Senior Year and Graduation
Two notable incidents occurred during my senior year and include my being elected President of the Craig Scholars and, most importantly, meeting the woman who would later become my wife, Blanca. Graduation came in May of 2004 and I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.97 GPA (got one stinkin’ B…but I’m not bitter) and was awarded the Outstanding Graduate in the Department of Finance. I thought I had a job lined up after graduation, but when that fell through I scrambled to find something new and stumbled into a Loan Analyst position at a local Farm Credit office.
My First and Second Full-Time Jobs
Let me just say I knew next to nothing about agricultural lending, and after a few months of rotating around the various departments within the office, I settled into my position and got into a groove similar to that which I felt around the time I started investigating studying abroad opportunities in school. My job wasn’t complex, I didn’t feel like I was being challenged or given much responsibility, and after some contemplation I began considering making a change.
I used my contacts I had made during school to get some names at local commercial lending offices where I might be able to find a new position. I wanted to get in with a bigger bank with more resources where I would hopefully find better training opportunities while being exposed to different types of credits. I managed to land an interview at Citibank, and after being offered a position I left Farm Credit after ten months. I have been at Citi now for just over two years and will have just over three years of full time work experience as I start my MBA.
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