Entering the Brookville Hall dorms at LIU Post in Brookville on Sunday July 21st, I was greeted by many people who seemed enthusiastic to meet me. I was spending the week here, away from home for a business program offered by the deans at LIU Post. Although there was an extreme heatwave this week, I considered myself lucky because my dorm was one of the few rooms that had an air conditioner. Upon entering my room, I met my roommate Ashley, who happened to be from Garden City. Ashley and I began to greet other students in the hall to start our experience here at LIU post.

Throughout the week, I attended classes pertaining to business careers and public speaking. I learned a lot of new information about various careers within the business field. We took field study tests to see the different careers that would best suit our personality types. I also learned about myself as a leader and a speaker. I was taught by the deans and professors at LIU Post, and many of them worked on Wall Street, at Bloomberg, or for other large businesses. These instructors were extremely knowledgeable.

We also worked with Chuck Garcia, a public speaking coach who we had to speak with at the beginning and the end of the week to demonstrate our improvement in our public speaking abilities. Socially, I grew this week and was pushed outside of my comfort zone. I was encouraged to meet people from all over the United States as well as people who live very close to me. To my surprise there were people from as far away as California. I learned that I am very capable of making friends and learning about others in a short time period. Some of the friendships I have made here will last a lifetime. These friendships were an important part of networking for future connections.

As part of this academy, we visited Bloomberg in the city. Careers such as business consulting and economics were also introduced to us along with the LIU-IQ program they offer at LIU Post for students. I highly recommend students attend programs like this at a college and for a career that interests them. This week has been truly eye opening for me in realizing the capabilities I have and the growing passion I have for business.