A “Fresh Face” at Keygent for the Summer
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Keygent's Summer Intern - Kayla Keough
As a child, most kids don’t know what they want to do when they grow up. Even in high school most teenagers still don’t have an idea what they want to study. However, from an early age I was exposed to the financial services industry from my parents, and because of this, I became interested in this field. So with this in mind, I enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a business administration major with a concentration in finance. After completing my first year at Carnegie Mellon University, I returned home to Southern California to begin my first internship with Keygent LLC. As a business major, Keygent was a huge opportunity.
What I learned from my internship at Keygent
School is about learning concepts and applying them to real life situations; Keygent gave me the chance to apply this knowledge. Looking back at my summer internship, I can now say that school does not fully prepare you for the “real” world. Every morning when my alarm went off, I didn’t hit the snooze button because going into the office was something that I looked forward to. Getting up and driving to work to learn new topics every day from experienced, hard working people was priceless.
During my time at Keygent, I was taught how to read and understand official statements, create debt service schedules, analyze bond models, and complete other applicable tasks. Assignments were challenging, but everyone was encouraging, patient, and supportive when I was given a new activity. I was also fortunate enough to listen to many pricing calls which helped deepen my understanding of the business and communicated to me the goal everyone was working towards.
Everyone at Keygent was a pleasure to work with
Not only did I learn about municipal bonds, but I also developed strong relationships with my co-workers. The environment at Keygent was warm and welcoming. From my first day to my last I always felt comfortable and appreciated. I look up to the people at Keygent because they demonstrate professionalism and they always handled their tasks with meticulous care and efficiency. They are what I aspire to be one day.
In the short amount of time that I spent at Keygent, I gained more knowledge and experience than in any classroom. The instruction and guidance I received was invaluable. The lessons that I gained this summer while working at Keygent was a great start to building a solid foundation for which I can use to help me throughout my career in finance. Everyone in the office was a pleasure to work with and I am so thankful for the experience that Keygent offered. My time at Keygent couldn’t have been any better!