Interview with Nick Finn, College of the Holy Cross

Interview with Nick Finn, College of the Holy Cross

Interview with Nick Finn, Holy Cross

Interviewer:
Today’s interview is with Nick Finn from Holy Cross, College of Holy Cross. And you’re a senior. So, you’re doing that next transition. You’ve finished undergrad almost. You got one more final. Really scary, really fun. A lot of good things that come with that. But you studied econ, environmental studies. You have an internship at Circuit, which is a local shuttle service. I had to look that up, obviously. And then you’re in a bunch of clubs and activities and sports. And the goal today is just to really dive into all of that and share your story. And give insights to other college and high school students. So I always start with the same first question just to get a good intro. How did you end up at Holy Cross? What was that process like?

Nick:
Well, because I was looking at colleges during COVID, Holy Cross was one of the only colleges I actually got to see in person. I just got here right before the curtains came down and everyone went on Zoom. And so it really made a pretty big difference. Significant impact in my head, just being able to see the campus in person, I had a cousin who went here, and my parents had known a lot of people who’d gone here, so I had been able to talk to a lot of people, and just seeing the campus in person, it was beautiful. And then also like, just knowing, knowing people and their experiences here, that’s yeah, so familiarity.

Interviewer:
And lucky to have a cousin that went there. Are you from the area originally?

Nick:
No, so I’m from Bedford, New York, and Worcester isn’t too far away but—

Interviewer:
Nice. Where is Bedford in New York? I haven’t heard of that.

Nick:
So Bedford is in Westchester County. It’s —gotcha—it’s closer to Connecticut, but it’s right outside the city.

Interviewer:
All right, I’m gonna—I always do this—I’m gonna pull that up real quick. I went to University of Rochester, which obviously not there but holds tons of students from those schools in that area. How close is it to Rye?

Nick:
Oh, that’s where I was. 30 minutes.

Interviewer:
Okay, a town or two over. Yeah, that’s where I used to live.

Nick:
Oh, very cool.

Interviewer:
Okay, nice. I have a couple teammates that are from there. Then my dad’s family is from Westport area, which is not too far from you guys, it looks like. Okay, cool. All right, that gives me a good sense. So yeah, you’re familiar with New England. Because technically New York’s not, but I count it sometimes. So that’s cool. OK, so yeah, maybe location familiarity.

What were some of the other things you were looking at or like some other colleges that you were considering?

Nick:
So I was really just looking for a smaller school. I looked at the big schools like Northeastern and GW and they’re just overpowering. It was just like a lot. It was a lot going on. And so I wanted that smaller school atmosphere knowing I wanted to be able to know my professors. And so that’s what drew me to looking at the smaller schools. And then it’s weird thinking back on this. It’s almost four years that I was thinking about all this. But yeah, it was a small school atmosphere that really drew me in to looking at like NESCACs and Holy Cross.

I looked at like Trinity, Colby and a few others. And I also liked—I rode in high school. And I was recruited to a few schools, but I ended up choosing to go to Holy Cross. Not anything to do with crew, but yeah.

Interviewer:
Yeah, I think there are a lot of reasons to consider schools and some students look at like sports or different things. So it’s actually interesting. A lot of the conversations I’ve had with students in your year or like junior, senior year—there was one or two schools that they could actually be at in person. And they make that a key point in their answer, which is what you just did, where like you actually get to see it and feel it. And so I think that’s big. And then again, all these smaller colleges, everyone just really likes to highlight the community and just that feeling of connection that you have with faculty and staff. So I like to break this conversation down, not really like formally, but typically we’ll touch on like community—so what it’s like to live there—curriculum, and then career. So we’ll touch on all those areas. I think we’re leaning toward community. So a couple of questions around that. Like, obviously you transitioned to campus. What was it like living there the first couple of years?

Nick:
So I’ll preface this. Holy Cross is a pretty small school, but we have D1 athletics. And so it creates a weird dynamic where I’d say two-thirds of the school are athletes. And then the rest of us are just floating around, figuring it out. And so that transition was a little weird. But then once I started to figure it out, freshman year was a bit iffy because of COVID and just Zoom would pop up every so often. We’d have testing like every week. I remember that. That was the worst. You’d have to be clear to be able to go to the dining hall. It was tough. But sophomore year was amazing. We had organizations, and that’s where really the sense of community came into play. Like I joined a few club sports, the ski team and the ultimate Frisbee team. And then I actually started the outdoors club with a friend because it got shut down due to re-recognition due to COVID. And so we started that passion project and finally got it up and running junior year because Holy Cross had some questions about that. But yeah, freshman and sophomore year everyone was so welcoming. Like you roll up to campus—like I guess this is most colleges—you roll up to campus and there are so many people just there to welcome you. They had like the band out and everyone was just there grabbing your stuff out of the car, moving into your room, the president was walking around. It’s just cool. Made a pretty big impact.

Interviewer: That’s awesome. Yeah, so just—it’s fun to  re-emphasize everything you say. So you met a lot of people through student orgs and just being active on campus. And yeah, COVID made that difficult. I remember just even from a professional standpoint having new—because I worked in athletics at University of Vermont before my job at Tuck, and so that’s when COVID hit, and you have all these new athletes coming in that you’re working with, but you don’t really like know what they look like. ‘Cause you’re all wearing masks and like you’re saying, testing all the time. So, yeah, it makes it difficult, but again, pretty cool and common to see you expand out into different clubs and whatnot sophomore year and maybe COVID settled down a bit. You get more settled on campus. But yeah, quick question about the outdoor club. What’s, what’s like the main—what are the main areas you travel to or where do you organize to go in Worcester or from Worcester?

Nick: Yeah, so basically, so every weekend we host a trip to the rock climbing center near here. It’s called Central Rock Gym. It’s in Worcester. So that’s a pretty big hit. Like 12 students can go every week. And then we’ll have bigger trips skiing to Wachusett, which is like 30, 40 minutes away. That’s one of my favorite trips. And then once the snow goes away, we’ll go hiking at Wachusett. Sometimes go up to Monadnock. I was able to pull off a trip up to New Hampshire. That was an interesting one. But yeah, it’s wherever we want to go and wherever the school will let us go.

Interviewer: Yeah. Find that middle ground.

Nick: Yeah, for sure.

Interviewer: Because another thing that some students just don’t asse or don’t learn until they get to college is how much responsibility you have around planning and working with the school. I had a roommate in college that played club soccer and they had to fund and fundraise most of their travel for games and whatnot. So, I think it’s just more skills you’re developing outside the classroom, which is cool. And then the reason I ask about where you go—you talk to students from like CU Boulder or somewhere in Vermont or New Hampshire. The reputation is just there’s mountains everywhere. You can do stuff. So down in Worcester, it’s like, oh, you might have to get a little more creative, but there’s nice pockets where you can do similar activities. And so I think, again, students learning about that, it’s so important. So, yeah, tons of clubs, super involved. Last question, I guess, around community is: is campus set where you have most undergrads, or is the town  encroaching on it at all with like local families and whatnot?

Nick: So Worcester is a really big college city. I think there are—12, you’d have to fact-check me on this—but there are like 12 other colleges around us. A lot of them are smaller. But we’re set back up on a hill where like the city isn’t really encroaching on us. We have our own little bubble. And the hill aspect is interesting too—that’s, that’s—you gotta walk upstairs everywhere you want to go.

Interviewer: Yeah.

Nick: Yeah, you get used to it.

Interviewer: You’re in shape for sure.

Nick: I’m like coming back after Christmas break or whatever, it’s like dang, gotta do all these stairs again. Well, the dining hall is like all the way down at the bottom of the hill and then the academic buildings are all the way at the top, and your dorm’s right in the middle. So wherever you have to go, you’re walking down or up.

Interviewer: Yeah, you gotta be strategic because you’re like loading up on food and then you gotta get a workout in just to go to class. That’s tough.

Nick: Yeah, good deal.

Interviewer: I feel there’s so many colleges like that and thankfully where I went it wasn’t—I mean there’s one gradual hill, but you could avoid it if you went a certain route and it was still a lot of walking, but yeah, not as steep as it sounds over there. But no, the community sounds great. And what I enjoy most about these conversations is I get to hear your story, but I’m going to interject one—my experience at Holy Cross. And so I was signed up to go to a baseball camp and just like try out whatever coming out of high school. And I drove—it’s four hours from where I live in Vermont. So we drove all the way down. Pull into the parking lot at Holy Cross near the baseball field, and I get an email sent out that we had—I don’t know if I had no service or whatever it was, I mean, you were saying four years ago, this was a long time ago—but they say it’s canceled. So we drove four hours, it’s canceled. I walked around campus, whatever was going on that day, there was nobody on campus. It was like a ghost town, which was just bizarre. But like you said, beautiful campus. Ate some food, got right back in the car, drove four hours home, which was so tough. And then, yeah, I just wanted a different route with like coaches I connect with. Anyway, that was—I think I might’ve gone back one time. But anyway, that was like my one experience visiting, and I didn’t have the COVID thing and that stuff. But anyway, so no, I’m glad. I have tons of friends that have gone there and I think, I think it’s an awesome school. So that’s community. I think that’s awesome. I’d love to shift into curriculum—how you  landed on Econ and Environmental Studies. And are those interests you’ve always had, or did you just  discover those as an undergrad?

Nick: So I’ve always wanted an environmental component into whatever I study. In high school, I really got into it and latched onto that. And so when I came to Holy Cross, I was like, okay, environmental science, environmental studies, no brainer. I’ll do that. And then like, I’ve always been a history—like I’ve always liked history. So I was like, oh, maybe Poli Sci. I took a few Poli Sci classes and I was like, okay, cool. This is what I’m going to do. I declared spring of freshman year. I was like double major in Poli Sci and Environmental Studies. And then it was one conversation I had with my dad in the dining hall before finals, and he was like, you want to take maybe an Econ course sophomore year? See if you like it—it’s more of an applicable major.

Nick: Yeah, and so I ended up doing that. And it was 110, typical weed-out course, just trying to kill you. But I ended up really enjoying it. I did fine in it, better than some of my other friends, and so I was like, okay, well now I’ll do Environmental Studies and Econ. And I felt like that was the best of both worlds. I ended up dropping my Environmental Studies down to a minor because of a few things. But yeah, I wish I had known before I picked up the Econ major that it is extremely tough. And it just basically becomes your life if you don’t stay on top of it. But I’ve really enjoyed it so far. And most of my friends, most of my roommates right now are all Econ majors, and so we’re in the same classes, and it’s just been fun. But it is a tough major. A lot of math, a lot of visualization, a lot of data analysis. But I’ve really come to like it. And then for the Environmental Studies part, just something I’ve always been passionate about. Like the internship that I’m in right now, that’s an EV rideshare startup. And so that’s climate tech-adjacent. And as of late, I’ve been talking to a few alumni who are in the climate tech space, and like I’m going to different like startup events and it’s been cool—cool to see all that.

Interviewer: Sweet. That’s honest insight too. I mean, a lot of people just say, yeah, this is my major and I can do it. And it’s nice to see like, well, this is the thinking that goes behind it. And there’s so many students, as you know, that I meet—like through Tuck—and they’re Econ. I think like 50 percent of our enrollment for our program’s Econ, which makes sense because you get some of that other formal business experience too. And anyway, I just—I think it’s super applicable, like your dad was saying. Yeah, you can just apply it to any interest that you have. And again, to  rally around your friends doing it too, I think that’s big. And I always ran away from it just because of testing. And I don’t know why, I just didn’t have that advice. But are your parents involved in business? Did they study Econ? Was that some of the influence?

Nick: My dad actually regrets that he never studied Econ. He’s in finance right now, but he was a history major. And so that’s why he was like, “Oh, try Econ.” My older sister was an Econ minor, and my younger sister is an Econ major. They all got the bug too.

Interviewer: Where do your sisters go?

Nick: They both went to Georgetown. One is at Georgetown and the other one graduated.

Interviewer: That’s a beautiful campus too. That’s a good spot. I studied history. I’ve met a bunch of students—they’re like, “I do engineering and business.” I’m like, “How the hell does that work?” I did history.

Interviewer: My advisor sat me down and they were like, you could just like crank out an English major too, if you want to. So I did English and History. And then it took probably three or four years career-wise to get some of those like Econ or business skills. And anyway, so I’m always working on that too, which is cool. But yeah, it’s good advice. I think History is interesting too. I mean, to hear History to Finance—like there’s ways to do it. And again, you’re aware of some of that skill building. So that’s cool. We’ll go curriculum, tailing off into career stuff. But essentially what I’m getting at is like you’ve really prioritized internships and some experience outside the classroom—obviously clubs as well. We touched on that, but how many internships have you had in undergrad? Is it like a handful or do you focus on one or two?

Nick: So I’ve actually only had this one, and it’s gone for a year now. So I started last spring in April. It went through the summer, and I’ve been lucky enough to keep it going throughout the school year.

Interviewer: Oh, very cool. And what’s your role specifically?

Nick: So I’m a Risk and Safety slash Finance intern. And so for Risk and Safety, they have a lot of crashes. And so I do analysis on the back end of that. And then also keeping in touch with like insurance and all of that and starting claims. And so it’s been interesting. Like, when I call someone, like, what do I have to have ready to be able to talk to them and actually utilize their time correctly and not waste it? But then also like data analysis too—like looking at, okay, well, what can we do better? What can we send out to all of our drivers to make them not make these mistakes anymore?

Interviewer: Yeah. Well, I don’t mean to laugh—like crashing isn’t funny. Just like the way you said it, I didn’t expect it. But like, why do they—why do they have so many crashes? Is that just the nature of the business?

Nick: Yeah it’s partially due to our drivers tend to be less experienced. And so you have some mistakes that pop up here and there. But yeah, we have to deal with both.

Interviewer: That makes sense. And this might just be because I saw a picture online, but they’re weird-shaped vans. Is that part of it too, like driving those?

Nick: Yeah. So we have a few different things. We have vans, and then we have like these golf cart things. And the golf carts—the golf carts are what draws in the college-age students to drive. And then they end up getting totally hooked. It’s cool.

Interviewer: So this is local to Worcester and it’s like—is it like a touring thing or is it just, you know, so that thing?

Nick: It’s actually nationwide, and we don’t even have it in Worcester. So I work remotely for them. They’re based out of New York City, but they have spots in Florida, Texas, California, Boston, New York, New Jersey. And I think that’s it. But yeah, no—it’s small, but it’s small but big. It’s weird, yeah. It’s the ops team—the ops team is small, but I think our footprint is pretty large.

Interviewer: No, that sounds cool. Well, no, I mean, that type of service is—it’s really important and really interesting. And, side note again, like just hearing that—my father-in-law runs like a combination of different services and whatnot, and the main thing is towing. And, there’s all kinds of students that we try to connect him with to just hear about how he runs a business and the ins and outs, where it’s not finance, it’s not like private equity or venture capital or some of the consulting, like the trademark names you hear for careers. And yeah, a lot of students just shy away because it’s, I don’t know, because it’s a lot of hard work—just like this, it’s like a driving service. And I just think, like you’re saying, it’s small but big. It’s got a dozen different locations. So there’s just all kinds of business opportunity everywhere. Very cool. So obviously you’re in the job search—or have you locked something down for post-grad?

Nick: So I’ve been pretty unlucky with the job search. I’ve had two offers, and both have been pulled due to funding issues. Yeah, it’s whatever. But now I’ve really been utilizing the Holy Cross network, which is really strong.

Interviewer: Okay, cool.

Nick: That’s been fun. I’ve had pretty good success with that. And just networking my way to having the information that I need to be able to get my first job. So yeah, I’m working on that right now. I have like four or five calls scheduled this week. I’ve been talking to other people who are willing to go to bat for me. So yeah, all out.

Interviewer: What was one of the positions that you accepted?

Nick: I’m not even sure how to describe it really. It was an intern role for research. And the goal was to just gain a little expertise in the climate space. So it was going to be looking at energy transmission, which is something I’m interested in and looking to go into after college. And so there I was going to do a little research on, I think, either microgrids or just like transmission in general, because as of right now, we’re in a cool stage where we’re transitioning from dirty, dirty energy like coal and oil to cleaner and natural gas all the way to renewables such as like wind and solar. And so that was, yeah.

Interviewer: Yeah, it’s a creative space. A lot of innovation, a lot of growth, tons of companies popping up. , but very, very niche—or niche, or however you say that word. I hate that word. But, yeah, it’s—it’s one of those things where like, if you know the right people, get the right support—so, yeah. So okay, so your cold outreach on LinkedIn—are there any resources through Holy Cross that you’ve used, like Career Center or alumni?

Nick: So I’ve used the Career Center a little bit, but alumni have been really helpful. Like I think the way I put it is the Career Center is really helpful with getting you started. , but I was lucky enough to go to Tuck. And they were really helpful. The Bridge Program was really helpful, getting my rese ready to go, teaching me how to reach out to people and all of that. And so that’s what I’d say—that Holy Cross Career Center is really good at doing that. However, I haven’t utilized it as much. I have had friends who have done like their business program here and that’s been helpful for them. But they’ll host networking events with alumni. And that’s the one thing I really want to emphasize—the alumni base here is really strong, really tight-knit. And if you find the right person, they’re willing to help you. And that’s—that’s who I’m talking to right now. My mentor is an alumnus, and he’s really passionate about what he does and he just knows people. So he’s willing to put me in contact with them.

Interviewer: Yeah. Awesome. I’ve heard that consistently through and through— the NESCAC-size schools or ones with similar reputations. And, even at the bigger schools, like if you can find that pocket of supportive alumni or they’re in an industry and it resonates what you’re trying to accomplish with them, then they’ll help you out. So yeah, I think cold outreach is always good. Just break down what you said—LinkedIn is a great tool, more so for like connecting with people from my experience, as opposed to applying to some of those jobs. Sometimes they’re outdated. But yeah, the alumni network is huge. And I just think you’re doing all the right things and targeting, obviously, your interests, which is super important. So yeah, two offers taken back—annoying, but you’re gonna power through, I can tell. And, uh, tons more meetings. You can’t really do much more at that point. Last question on that real quick—are you targeting—obviously I know the answer, like you get a job, if it’s the right fit, you accept it—but, are you hoping to be like in a city, or stay in Worcester area, or go somewhere else?

Nick: So what I’ll tell my parents is I’m targeting New York and Boston, but if the right job comes around—which I’ve been talking to people and they’ve been like, “You want to talk to some people out West?” and I’m like, “Okay, cool.” I’d do it. If the right job comes around, I’ll move anywhere for it.

Interviewer: Yeah, that makes sense for sure. There’s opportunity everywhere. And you’re young—why not see a bunch of stuff? So that makes sense. Alright, last couple of questions—a bit broader. And it’s really just around giving advice to undergrads. And you’ve already done it through some of our conversation. But I always like to end on your biggest tip or best advice for making the most of undergrad.

Nick: My biggest tip would be to get involved early. I think that was my biggest mistake freshman year. I didn’t really get involved. Sophomore year, I’d say was freshman year 2.0, where I got involved in a bunch of clubs, I started a club, and I met my friends through all that. And then also academically—like going to your professors’ office hours even if you don’t have anything to say. I have one professor who just loves to talk—he’ll talk about the economy, he’ll talk about anything you want to have a conversation about. And he just loves that stuff. And so using those office hours as a time to (A) go over academic material that you don’t understand, but (B) create a close relationship with your professors so that when a situation arises where you might not be doing too hot, you can go to them and ask for support.

Interviewer: Good insight. Yeah, it’s great advice. And I think the challenge at times—like some people talk about, there’s 400 clubs on the campus. And I think the best advice, combined with what you’re saying, is sign up for a bunch, try them, and then get rid of the ones you don’t like as much. And back to like the theme of undergrad is four years—you do have enough time to take Poli Sci classes or Econ classes or whatever it is, and then shift your focus and make things a minor or double major. And so you’ve done all the right things. And you’ve felt it out. And you’ve gotten guidance from staff, faculty, your parents. And so it’s a complete package. I think you’ll really find a great fit post-undergrad. So congrats on graduating—I know it’s a big deal. And just one more thank you and appreciate your time. And I think we’ll just pause there.

Nick: Sweet. Yeah, no, thank you.