Janet Torres: The Lion of Wall Street

Finance major Janet Torres is trading LMU's palm-lined walkways for the hustle and bustle of Wall Street with her new role as an Investment Banking Analyst for Citigroup in New York City.

Janet doubts she'd be heading east if it weren't for the guidance and opportunities LMU has afforded her, such as an internship last summer with Citigroup as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst.

"I'm really excited, but a little nervous," Janet said. "Investment banking is one of the hardest careers to go into in terms of finance. It's extremely demanding, one works like 80 hours a week and I'll be competing with the likes of Harvard Business School graduates."

Nevertheless, Janet feels LMU has sufficiently prepared her for the journey she's about to embark on, saying one of the best decisions she made her freshman year was joining the business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi.

"I learned a lot of the fundamentals," Janet said, "networking, leadership skills, interviewing, resume building... and it really allowed me to come out of my comfort zone. I believe it was one of key factors in helping me land the job."

Janet adds that LMU gave her invaluable hands-on experience in the classroom, such as being chosen to participate in the business program's Student Investment Fund. The project gives a group of twelve outstanding students the rare opportunity of investing $300,000 in the stock market.

She says the project taught her a lot about research, stock analysis, stock pitches and just the market in general.

But Janet says none of what she's accomplished over the past four years would have been possible without LMU's student worker program. The highly selective program consists of 24 students who work 20-40 hours per week in exchange for paid tuition and housing.

"It gave me the opportunity to go to school at LMU," Janet said, who worked at Burns Recreation Center. "It wouldn't have been possible otherwise."

She added that she's had a host of wonderful experiences at LMU, her favorite being an Alternative Break trip to Quito, Ecuador where she volunteered at a non-profit.

"Being able to experience the culture, economy, to see the poverty was very impactful," Janet said. "It really opened my eyes to what was going on outside the U.S."

As Janet makes her move to The Big Apple, she says more than anything she'll miss all the great people she's met during her time at LMU.

"I realized I'm not going to have the luxury of being around so many different types of people anymore," Janet said. "Once I get into my career, I'll for the most part only be around those in finance."

As for any advice she might have for incoming Lions:

"Get involved. It's where you make all your friends and connections - and LMU has so very much to get involved in."