Which focus group/initiative were you a part of and what did you achieve in it?
I was a part of the finance focus group/initiative and really wanted everyone in it to benefit from the meetings. There are many areas of focus in finance and different skillsets appropriate for each, so we tried to bring as much variety in the topics we covered. We've also tried making headway into the investment initiative, and I'm very happy to see that it has taken off.
What positions did you have in SBC and what was most rewarding about them?
I was a SBC week director my sophomore year, Treasurer/Finance director my junior year and most recently Co-president. It's really great to see your role evolve within the club and to gradually take on more responsibility, which helps develop a sense of ownership and commitment.
How has SBC enhanced your MIT experience?
SBC certainly has some of the best and the brightest minds on campus, and just great people in general (objectively speaking, I promise ;) ). With a heavily engineering focus at MIT, SBC was tremendous in helping me keep my interests balanced and I also met some of my best friends here.
If you could go back to your Freshman year what would you do differently?
Freshman year is a great opportunity to meet not only the people in your hall or your classes but on campus in general. Many of us will eventually find a group of friends who we feel comfortable with - whether it is fraternities/sororities, sports teams, or SBC :) - and inevitably spend most of our time with them. I'm certainly guilty of this, and really wish that I had a chance to get to know a greater number of people in my class if I could go back to my freshman year.
What was your favorite class you took at MIT and why
14.26 - Economics of incentives
Bengt Holmstrom is a Nobel Laureate so that's the merit of the class in and of itself, but I'd go above and beyond say it was one of my favorite classes at MIT. I've really enjoyed the content of the class and also the way it was taught. He goes beyond the mathematical economic model of incentives and encourages people to think through many of the cases introduced in class, which makes the class very exciting and real. If I'm not mistaken 14.01 is a prerequisite for this class, which I also heavily recommend!
Where are you working after graduation and what brought you there?
I'll be working as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs in the industrials group. I've been fortunate to have had exposure to many different areas of finance during my MIT career, and realized over time that I'm much more interested in being a part of a longer-term strategic decision making process than the fast paced, market facing trading floor. There is also a strong camaraderie between the incoming class of analysts in investment banking, of which I am a huge fan, and it is certainly not the case for many of the other entry level positions in finance.
Hyun Yang
Co-president of SBC from 2016-2017
Currently works at Goldman Sachs in Investment Banking