Christian Escotto-Rosado ’19 (BUS) is always on the hunt for his next opportunity.<\/p>\n
A first-generation college student, the 21-year-old UConn senior is soaking up every experience he can \u2013 be it working full-time as a bank teller while juggling a grueling course schedule, throwing his hat in the ring for a prestigious internship, or learning to decorate a mean birthday cake at his mother\u2019s fledgling Bronx event venue.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loves to learn. He loves a challenge, and he\u2019s very resourceful,\u201d says Marlys Rizzi, assistant director of the School of Business in Stamford and a trusted advisor who has known him for more than two years.<\/p>\n
Escotto-Rosado was born in the Bronx to Dominican Republic-born parents, Cristian and Ana. The family moved to Danbury in 2010 and Escotto-Rosado enrolled at Henry Abbott Technical High School, where he studied heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s awesome to have the opportunity to look at business and how business is done. — Christian Escotto-Rosado<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
While he knew he could have a solid career in the trade, he decided to further his education and applied to UConn\u2019s Waterbury Campus to study business administration. Soon after, he made the switch to Stamford, to home in on Financial Management.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought there would be more opportunities,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
And he hasn\u2019t been disappointed. Since the Financial Management majors have a fairly set course of study, Escotto-Rosado quickly made friends with his classmates and found himself right at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say it\u2019s a good feeling within the Financial Management major,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019re all taking classes together.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been enjoying the laser-sharp focus of the field as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s far more specific, more applied,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to do something in business, and it\u2019s awesome to have the opportunity to look at business and how business is done.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision to attend college has not come without some challenges. For the past two years, he worked 32 hours a week as a Chase Bank teller, while juggling a full-time course schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d work in the morning and go to school at night. It worked out well. I\u2019ve learned to operate on less sleep,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
At Chase, he learned people skills that he believes will serve him well wherever he lands in business. In addition, he was an ATM custodian, with about $800,000 under his control on any given day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a great opportunity \u2013 to have that responsibility on my shoulders,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Escotto-Rosado might still be at the bank if it hadn\u2019t been for another opportunity that came his way \u2013 this time with IBM, where he snagged a plum, full-time internship as a financial analyst in its Armonk, New York, headquarters.<\/p>\n
The company had been recruiting on the Stamford campus, and he jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe planets kind of aligned,\u201d he says. \u201cI can\u2019t say enough good things about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Escotto-Rosado\u2019s day at IBM sometimes started with a 6:30 a.m. pickup basketball game that might include anyone from his fellow interns to IBM executives. After a quick shower and change, he\u2019d find himself forecasting financial realities in the current year, analyzing how products were performing against budgets, and adjusting targets for the future.<\/p>\n
As with any internship, Escotto-Rosado knew he had to quickly learn and adapt to IBM\u2019s particular corporate culture to stand out \u2013 another test that will serve him well in his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really a cool, hands-on experience,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Escotto-Rosado credits UConn faculty and advisors such as assistant professor-in-residence Robert Biolsi with helping him make the transition from promising student to valued employee.<\/p>\n
Biolsi was instrumental in securing another internship for him, this time with an investment banker who challenged him to look at specific municipal bonds and how they were performing. The investor was based on Long Island, so Escotto-Rosado would study the bonds\u2019 performance at UConn\u2019s state-of-the-art Bloomberg terminal, and then hop on the Port Jefferson Ferry in nearby Bridgeport every couple of weeks to meet with the investor and present his findings.<\/p>\n
Prior to the internship, Escotto-Rosado didn\u2019t have much experience with the Bloomberg terminal, an advanced computer system with integrated financial software that allows users to access real-time financial data from around the world. But he worked on it every day on his own initiative, in order to become familiar with it.<\/p>\n