During the spring semester brother Tyler Stearns studyied abroad in Spain. After returning home, Tyler had the oppurtunity to reflect upon his journey:

Since freshman year, I’ve always known that I have wanted to spend a semester abroad; however, the specific location always seemed to allude me. Once Brother Burke and I settled our intentions of studying in the same location, we searched for a change in culture, but were limited to our monolingualism. We narrowed our focus to Europe, hoping to maximize our diverse experiences while simultaneously minimizing our constant appeals to our parent’s for the ever-needed additional Euros (the conversion was brutal). When looking at the possible locations that our program offered we set our eyes on Barcelona, Spain. We both had heard that many of the locals spoke English (which turned out to be false) and were thrilled about the opportunity to be living in a beach city that boasted both a rich history and an incredible night life. So we left the frigid winter weather of America in early January and moved into an apartment in the Gracia area of Barcelona to spend the next three months as Europeans.

The first month of living abroad was a huge adjustment, not just to the European culture, but also the transition from a born-and-raised suburbanite to a city of around 1.5 million. Brother Burke and I were slow starters compared to our peers that were studying with us; after our initial scarring of being lost on the metro for over two hours we finally learned how to effectively utilize the public transportation system. Transportation was not the only area where we felt significant setbacks, but also the cultural difference of food. The Spanish treat their meals as social periods, where enjoying the company and meal was more important than efficiency. As Brother Burke and I discovered through one of our Spanish class assignments, most meals consist of a small breakfast, a large lunch (followed by an hour siesta), and an appallingly late dinner that started from anywhere between 9 and 11 pm. Everything seemed to be delayed in Barcelona, including going out, where many people would stay out until sunrise every night.  Communication was also extremely difficult as Barcelona resides in the autonomous community of Catalonia that fosters its only separate language, Catalan, and culture from the rest of Spain, although people in Catalonia can still speak Spanish or Castilian as many spitefully referred to it. These are just some of the initial adjustments I had to adapt to throughout the three months.

Being a double-major in Economics and Government and Law, I decided to take a mix of courses to see the contrasting differences between the European and American system. I discovered that although my classes were distinct in subject, they were much more interconnected than my classes in America. I observed that the economy and the government were more inherently related in not only Spain, but in many other European countries as well. Countless times my commute to classes would be delayed by throngs of people protesting budget cuts of anything from healthcare to education and the omnipresent beggars (Barcelona also boats the highest pick pocketing rate in Europe). Suffering from the collapse of the Spanish housing market and banking system, I lived in Spain during a time of social and economic turmoil exacerbated by widespread political corruption which included bribery of the President and embezzlement by the Spanish royal family. Despite this, I continued to enjoy the little time I had in Europe, traveling to Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, among other places. Barcelona was a beautiful, young, and vibrant city that provided everything and more that I needed during my time there.  Although I can’t say my Spanish is any better, it was an experience which I would not trade for the world and I am utterly grateful to my parents for providing me the opportunity.

This summer I am interning as a Regulatory Analyst at the National Stock Exchange, Inc., where I assist monitoring and investigating SEC and Exchange violations by trading firms.

Since graduating, brother David Ecklemann has been working as a Deputy Finance Director for the ‘Tom Wolf For Governor’ political campaign in the State of Pennslyvania.

His job entitles him to meet with supporters accross the state, and help raise money for the campaign. Although demanding, David has enjoyed the experience thus far, for it has allowed him to meet very interesting people from all walks of life. Through his time spent on the campaign trail, David has had the oppurtunity to get to know Mr. Wolf, leading to his transformation from employee to avid supporter.

This summer, Brother Adam Szklanny is working as a paralegal for Borland & Borland, L.L.P., a small law firm located in his hometown of Wilkes-Barre, PA that specializes primarily in Employment Law, Civil Rights, Commercial Litigation, and Civil Trial Practice. His primary duties in the office include legal research, drafting and editing legal briefs and memos, preparing relevant discovery responses in various cases, and general trial prep.

Adam will be working at this office until he moves up to Ithaca in mid-august to begin his adventures at Cornell Law. We wish him all the best as he continues to represent DKE as a scholar, gentleman and jolly good-fellow.

This past semester Brother John Burke ’14, studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain.  Brother Burke studied and lived with fellow Rho DKE Tyler Stearns while in Barcelona.  John chose to study in Spain because he was intrigued by the prospects of becoming acquainted with the Spanish lifestyle, language and political culture.  Other reasons that weighed into his decision to study in Spain included the Mediterranean climate and Barcelona’s fabled nightlife.  In Spain, John enrolled in a variety of Spanish Political Science courses, as well as an intensive Spanish language course.

While in Europe, John and Tyler traveled to several locations including Rome, Amsterdam and a trip to Berlin to meet with John’s sister Shannon.  By living, travelling, and struggling with various language barriers together John and Tyler only enhanced the bonds initially instilled by DKE.   Moreover, Brother Burke, upon landing in Spain was accosted by an amicable fellow passenger who recognized the letters engraved on his sweatshirt.  As it turns out John and Tyler were on the same flight as a Brother from Zeta Chi chapter of DKE at Bentley College.

Brother Burke enjoyed his time in Spain, but was indeed ready to return back to the United States at the end of the semester.  This summer John is working for a busy civil litigation firm in Parsippany, NJ, while simultaneously study for the LSAT, which he will be taking in the fall.

Brother Matthew Kuttner is interning at Fox Chase Capital Partners LLC, a firm dedicated to the buying and selling of bonds. His responsibilities include aiding the partners and analysts with information concerning the U.S. government and corporate and municipal bond markets, in addition to learning about the field as a whole.

Brother Kuttner was also recently elected to the House Manager position, responsible for overseeing the daily mantinence and overall beauty of our chapter house.

Brother Corey Cunningham is spending his summer working as an intern for Wilson Elser Law Firm in Florham Park, NJ. While there he is tasked with assisting lawyers organize their current and past case files.

Additionally, Brother Cunningham serves as a recruitment chairman for Rho.

Brother Zach Lizmi is spending the summer working for Wells Fargo Advisors, an investment and financial services firm. His responsibilites include aiding with analysis of equity and fixed income accounts for the Senior Vice President of Investments, along with helping in marketing. When he is not fulfilling these tasks, he is brought in to learn about the business of financial advisory and general finance.

Brother Kevin Seery is spending his summer working as an intern for EGR International, a business and advertising firm that specializes in engagement. His main projects include working on and planning events and receptions for Fortune 500 companies, as well as logging company invoices and cataloging. In addition to this, he is working as a sales representative for Vector Marketing.

Kevin currently serves as one of the rush chairs for DKE.

This summer, Brother Rob Howe is working as an intern for AIG in New York City. While at AIG, Rob is a business analyst in the Legal Operations Center. His responsibilities include creating graphical and analytical reports for carious areas of the company with an overall goal of effectively managing and reducing spending associated with legal counsel. For Rob, this is his second summer working with AIG. Last year, he worked as a strategic marketing intern in the Global Distribution Department where he worked on a handful of projects, most notably the 2013 Global Market Strategy.

Brother Howe most recently served as the Director of Service and Philanthropy for DKE. In this position, he organized the numerous philanthropic events for the chapter, namely the Jeremy Saxe Memorial Basketball Tournament that is held each spring. He will serve as the social chair this coming fall.

 

Brother Billy Leonard is spending the summer working for UBS Wealth Management, where he works in the unclaimed property division. His team works to provide support for their clients accounts that are either about to or have already been escheated.

Additionally, Brother Leonard currently serves as treasurer for DKE Rho and has been actively preparing for his duties this coming fall.