The Wolf from “The Wolf of Wall Street” has nothing on UA student Saleiha Mayer-Marks.
Mayer-Marks, a finance and economics junior, earned an internship in New York City this summer at Morgan Stanley. The 10-week internship was made possible by her time working with Sponsors for Educational Opportunity. Mayer-Marks said she believes SEO has been the biggest factor in her success so far.
Mayer-Marks said she earned B’s and C’s as a high school student. After receiving her transcript, she made some life-changing decisions. She quit her college-level soccer training, which she dedicated five to six hours a day, in order to focus on her studies and work toward getting accepted into a university.
Using the extra time she had after quitting, Mayer-Marks then paired up with her best friend to create an ice cream sandwich company where consumers can choose their ice cream and cookie flavors on demand. Mayer-Marks said this is the step that motivated her to become an entrepreneur in the financial world.
Upon attending the UA and being accepted into Eller College of Management, Mayer-Marks already owned 11 shares of stock in businesses such as Netflix, Apple and Biotech.
One professor Mayer-Marks credits with her growing success is Kim Marchesseault, a lecturer for the business communications program at Eller. Mayer-Marks said Marchesseault was the professor who taught her how to successfully present ideas to the general public.
Marchesseault said over the course of the semester, Mayer-Marks gradually gained confidence and learned how to work in teams in her business communications class.
“I constantly encouraged Saleiha to relax and smile during her presentations,” Marchesseault said. “Saleiha is now able to present with ease and connect with the audience in many situations.”
Lin Cheng, an assistant professor of accounting, said Mayer-Marks is passionate about her studies.
“[Saleiha] is very dedicated and hard-working based on my observations through group projects in the class,” Cheng said.
Recently Mayer-Marks traveled with her investment club to New York City to tour nine firms on Wall Street, an experience that led to her receiving an internship with Morgan Stanley this upcoming summer.
Mayer-Marks also had the chance to meet Karl Eller, the namesake of the Eller College of
Management, and he gave her advice and insight from his past experiences in the finance industry.
Mayer-Marks said she hopes to get a full-time offer from Morgan Stanley after her 10-week summer internship.
