Interview with Savannah Nowak – University of Rochester

Interviewer: So, hi Savannah, you’re our super special guest today, we were originally connected through a mentorship program at the University of Rochester which is where I went and I never pick favorites but it’ll be really fun to do my own school and work with someone that I know pretty well at this point. I’m excited to share your story and give you a chance to give your best advice to students.

So, I’m familiar, but just a quick intro, how did you end up at UofR?

Savannah: Yeah, so thank you for asking me to do this; I’m very happy to do it. Well, how did I end up here? A lot of different things, but it kind of came out of nowhere if I’m being completely honest. Like junior year Savannah was looking up the best engineering schools in the Northeast region and UofR was absolutely one of them, and softball is also a big priority for me so being realistic with myself and looking more at the Division III level was not something I was shy about. I was like yeah, I know myself, I’m going to find the best fit for myself. Honestly I didn’t hear consistently back from UofR until August before my senior year, so later than I think generally. But I went on a visit like mid-August and that’s really when I fell in love with the school. There weren’t even that many people on campus, but the people I was able to meet, they were all phenomenal. The campus is gorgeous, especially during the summer, and even in the winter it’s pretty so that says a lot. It really came down to the feel and size of the campus, the people, also knowing that I could study so many different things. I didn’t realize how broad that would span until I really got into it and somehow ended up clustering in Polish. I never thought that was something I’d get out of college, but I’m so thankful that I did. So yeah, it was a slew of all those things, plus academically, it matched for me in terms of it definitely is a place where I’ve had to push myself. But I also don’t feel like I’m a robot that just does school. I feel like I’m able to do so many other things, so it’s a very happy medium.

Interviewer: Yeah I think it’s just nice to have so many reasons to explore school, and I think the process itself is really difficult because there are so many colleges, there are so many regions, and reasons to look at different colleges. It sounds like it quickly cecame a favorite of yours, but were there a lot of other schools you were looking at whether for softball or just an undergrad experience in general?

Savannah: Yeah, I mean, I never imagined going to school in Western New York that was not really on my radar. I was looking at New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts – definitely a little like closer to home for me, I’m from New Jersey, so just a lot of similar academic schools. One thing I didn’t really realize in the moment but a lot of the schools that I looked at were very similar in size, around the 6,000-7,000 mark and I’m very thankful I didn’t go to a smaller school or a bigger school. I’ve seen it translate into what I want in my corporate life as well. When I picture the company that I am going to work for, I have a job lined up which is crazy, I am glad it’s not one of the larger Fortune 500s. More power to the people who want to work form them but the company I am going to is also not as small as a startup, it’s kind of a very happy in-between where it’s very similar to here. I can find a new friend if I really want, but if I want to just like blend into the crowd, I can totally do that on any given day, so it’s a very happy in-between. between feeling not like you’re in this massive sea of people but also not feeling like a high school.

Interviewer: That makes sense, it’s fun to ask the question and hear how people ended up where they did, and you cover some common themes that people talk about when choosing a school. You talked about location, size, the community, and how you can function socially and professionally in that 5,000-6,000 student range. When I applied to UofR, I looked at some number that I guess included graduate students so I thought it was around 12,000 students and I probably told you that in a previous conversation, but I I showed up and I’m like, this is a really small place.  And it took a while for it to grow on me, as you know. So again, you get accepted and you get to campus. It’s a great academic-focused institution.

Did you know what you wanted to study? I know you found success with your internship, your job offer, which we’ll get into for sure. But did you really know what you wanted to wanted to do coming out of high school?

Savannah: Yeah, no. I thought I did. Through high school, I really thought I wanted to be an engineer. And then I took physics. And I think my engineering hopes kind of waned and went down the drain with that. Just because I really didn’t love it. I came into freshman year of college thinking I was going to be a computer science major. And I still kind of am in that realm, if you will. But I took an econ class because I thought that I would either cluster or minor in business. And I ended up loving it. I didn’t know what to expect out of it. But Professor Rizzo is like an iconic figure here. Everyone kind of knows something about him here. Whether that’s good, bad, or in between, whatever, like everyone kind of just knows what they’re talking about when it comes to Rizzo and for me the class really taught me how to think and I feel like a professor never taught me how to think for myself up until that point, which was really cool. That kind of opened my eyes to the business major and then I didn’t realize how many tracks were within the business major here, but seeing all the options and then eventually landing on analytics just because it was kind of in an in-between between just straight up business and computer science because I really did want to develop harder skills in computer science. I wasn’t totally opposed to it but I didn’t love more of like the back-end stuff. I was really interested more in visualizing data, cleaning data, that kind of stuff, rather than coding and Java all day it’s not really my thing but I was able to learn that because we have to take so many different classes here and we get to choose what different classes we have to take.

Interviewer: Yeah well I don’t have to remind you, well maybe I do because I say it every time, but everything you just said is the opposite of my skill set and it’s always just impressive to me when I hear about you or other students that seek out data and programming and all these other words that I’m aware of, but I really don’t know what they mean in practice. So it’s good insight.

But the last curriculum question about UofR, I think from the start I have said UofR, University of Rochester, just for people that read this. Can you explain really quickly the cluster structure and why that’s important to the curriculum there?

Savannah: Yeah, totally. So it slightly differs between anyone in the School of Sciences and Engineering or AS&E and then the Hajim School of Engineering. But the school that I’m in, I’m a business analytics major. So that’s a social science. That means that you have to cluster in the other two concentrations. So you have to do three classes in the natural sciences and then the humanities. So for me, the way that I kind of broke it down was that business analytics is social science, computer science was my natural science, which is funny. I think it’s very ironic, but it falls into the natural science. And then my humanities was Polish. And I was able to turn computer science into a minor. Yeah, and then Polish, I was able to go abroad. So that was really cool. But just being able to – the school makes you study one thing in each of the three disciplines. And it’s only three classes, so I really don’t think – and I will say in every one of the categories, I think you’ll find something that is worthwhile for you. I didn’t know we had a Polish anything until I randomly stumbled upon a language fair because there was free food. And now I have a really cool cluster because my family is Polish. I’m able to use it. So, yeah, it’s really cool.

Interviewer: Yeah, sure. So it’s kind of like – it’s Rochester’s attempt at a well-rounded education where instead of strongly encouraging students to go learn new things, they force you to learn new things and require it. And I mean that in a very positive way.

Savannah: Well, what I will say is it’s not like your typical general education, whereas you still have the freedom to choose. I could have chosen any language or philosophy or psychology. I really could have chosen any of those things. But I was able to dictate what class I was paying for, which I really like.

Interviewer: Yeah, that’s a good way to put it, too. I think thinking back to when I was your age in undergrad and wrapping up undergrad, I was less excited about thinking about which classes I could take. I just wanted to sign up and be done with it. So, I got lucky. History was social science. English was humanities for my two majors. And then I had to pick a natural science, which was the absolute bane of my existence. And I did geological science, rocks for jocks.

Savannah: Did you really?

Interviewer: It was horrible.

Savannah: I didn’t know that.

Interviewer: Oh, my gosh, it was terrible. But it was completely my fault effort wise and interest wise. I tried to pick the easiest one, but they all felt like the worst decision ever. So, thank you for the helpful breakdown. As we continue the conversation, I always want to touch on curriculum, which we did, community, so the culture at UofR and in Rochester, and just to get you thinking, we will shift to opportunities and professional development at the end.

And one question I’ll have is around how you’ve managed softball and being able to go abroad and manage everything along those lines. I’d love to learn more about the support system you have, the friends, the community that you’ve built on campus, and just kind of learn about what it’s like to go to school there.

Savannah: Yeah. I don’t think it’s too cheesy of an answer to say the people here that I’ve met are some of the best people I have met. It’s really cool coming to a school full of a lot of like-minded individuals. There are not a lot of people here who are not super driven. And I think that can be difficult sometimes because there are some days where you feel like you’re just not doing enough ever. And then there are some days you have to realize that you’re doing the best that you can and everything that you’re involved in, you’re doing it for a purpose. It can feel like a competition sometimes, but I personally don’t take it that way too often. But it’s definitely a school of high achievers. And that can be humbling, but it’s also awesome too – it provides so many incredible opportunities. Just trying to keep that as the focus I think is really important for me at least. But, yeah, with the competition, I will say that I have met my best friends here and there are people I intend on being friends with for the rest of my life. You just get to spend so much time with these people. And you get to live with them. So I’m definitely going to miss that. But very driven student body. Also, very driven faculty, I will say as well. The faculty love it here. There are a lot of professors who do research that they are incredibly passionate about. Just in the business school, I don’t see as much of that. But the number of people who are involved in research or who are teaching assistants, I think it’s a big part of why it’s so nice to be a part of the community here.

Interviewer: Yeah, and I think just from knowing you and then just in general, student-athletes typically have they’re small family in a team, and they have coaches, and they have trainers. And then outside of that, you have faculty and then friends you meet that don’t play sports.

So who’s, a professional on campus that you’ve connected with, like faculty or staff or a coach that has contributed to your growth?

Savannah: That’s a great question. I would say two people come straight to my mind. Our team director at the Athletic Center, Kris Shanley, she is incredible. She’s just a boss. Like, she is my boss, objectively. Yes, she is. But she also just – she comes to work, and she is passionate about her job every single day.

Interviewer: I remember that 100%. She is great.

Savannah: And I appreciate that a lot. I really love when I see other people doing what they love for a living because that’s where I want to end up someday. So seeing her passion for what she does is really awesome. And I also TA for a marketing professor. Her name is Stacey Saracene. Also a boss. Like, she’s just – she’s an adjunct professor. So she only teaches one class a semester. But she has so much on her plate, but she handles it all, incredibly well. She also is a great mentor in terms of jobs, not undervaluing myself, advocating for myself and she is really talented. She’s taught me how to do those things a lot better. And what she does for a living is also so cool. She got her MBA at Simon [School of Business], so that’s how she got tied in with the university. And she just continues to encourage me to take the next step and apply for this and maybe go to grad school. One good example was when I got a job offer and she told me to ask for more pay. And I was like, ‘Okay.’

Interviewer: Did you get more when you asked?

Savannah: I did.

Interviewer: Oh, that’s amazing. I’ve haven’t been successful with that up to this point. That’s so cool, congrats!

Savannah: Thank you.

Interviewer: It’s a really important skill and definitely one that is difficult to navigate. So you clearly have met some amazing people and really like it at Rochester. But you practice every day and train every day in classes. And you have to interact and have relationships with your coaches. But then you have these extra relationships. And you don’t take a class on how to ask for more salary, especially when you don’t have a ton of experience. Or a class that’s, like, this is how you follow up once you’ve applied. Or that job title isn’t out of your range for what you could get for a job. And I don’t even know how you’d factor that into curriculum because it’s a professional skillset. It’s not necessarily academic. So those people really make the community. And they are on campus. They’re a resource. And I know it’s really easy for me to think about this because I went to school there for five years, did two degrees, as you know. And it really took time to grow on me. I think I told you I hated Rochester as a place in general initially. And then after a year, I had that summer where I was looking forward to going back for sophomore year. I was like, oh, wait, I love going here for dinner and walking there for events.

So what around Rochester or around the campus are the spots that you like to go to? Where do you and your friends hang out and have fun?

Savannah: Yeah. Rochester has absolutely grown on me as well. I think freshman year, it’s just hard. You don’t have a car. You can’t really explore too, too much. Like, with my teammates, I did a little. But being able to drive myself places is a game changer. I’ve recently gotten into running, more distance running. And Rochester is a beautiful city to run in. I didn’t know that until midway through last year. But right off campus, like, Genesee Valley Park, it runs so far. I could run miles on miles. I can’t run that far. But, the number of miles I could run right on the Genesee is insane. So that’s gorgeous. One thing that was really neat, I got to intern with the Rochester Red Wings. They’re a AAA baseball team. They’re only 10 minutes off campus. And that was so much fun. It was really cool being able to work with a true professional sports organization. And I love a good baseball game. It’s very chill. Sometimes teams from other organizations come up so I get to watch my Yankees prospects just for a little bit. Yeah, there’s also an AHL hockey team. So that’s awesome. That’s really cool. They’re the Rochester Americans. So I’ve heard that those games are awesome as well. I still haven’t gone. I need to go before the season is over.

Interviewer: Those are crazy fun, you definitely need to go.

Savannah: Yes. But I also know Park Ave is a pretty common answer for great places to hang out. But there’s so much good food in Rochester. I eat gluten-free, and I still have found a lot of really, really good places to eat. So I think that’s kind of, the food is a huge part of it, I would argue, but there are just so many different types of cuisines around here. I don’t know. I will say I spend a lot of time on campus, a lot of time at friends’ houses.

Interviewer: Yeah, yeah, sure. It’s a good run-through. I am going to try not to be super biased, which I keep saying. But I’m just going to be because that’s just what’s going to happen today. But the fact that the Red Wings games are, like, $7. So it’s really accessible is the point. And just to mention, my favorite example you gave is the food. And growing up in Vermont, everything’s really local and fresh for the most part. And that was one thing I fell in love with in Rochester is no matter where you go, Park Avenue, a little more like high-end suburban feel, there’s just good food everywhere. And you can find Dino BBQ and more local name-brand places too. But yeah, upstate New York is just a haven for that. So I think that’s great. So yeah, we have also kind of touched on a couple people on campus, things to do around town. It’s great you’re running.

Savannah: I’m trying to figure out how to run. I’m trying. I’m trying really hard.

Interviewer: Yeah, for sure. I mean, you’re in season. You don’t need to train too much. So don’t go nuts. But so I think that’s a good sense of everything. And then just the location, it’s surprising. Like, western New York, people know about Buffalo. But there’s all these great towns and cities kind of mixed in as well. Rochester. Rochester being one of them. So just a couple more questions.

But shifting to kind of the opportunity and professional development stuff, I was just curious about your opinion on the resources that UofR has for internships or networking or just getting ready to apply to things. I know you mentioned the one faculty member you connected with. But in terms of leading up to your job offer, were there a lot of things on campus that helped?

Savannah: Yeah. So my internship, I’ll say, I got super lucky in getting it. But I’m very grateful that I did. One thing that I think the UofR does a really good job of is, at least for me, I had to take two writing classes for my major, which felt random. But it’s just any class with a W attached to the title which means there are so many topics to choose from. And the one I ended up taking was Creating a Professional Identity. So I had a really solid resume, a really solid concept of writing a half-decent cover letter. My LinkedIn profile, I think, is pretty full. I try. I try really hard to keep it updated. But all of those things were encouraged through that class. So that is a class that I really appreciated. The professor, her name was Liz. She was just lovely. She was so sweet. And part of the class is also applying for internships and being intentional about it. Because I think applying for them can be very monotonous. You just look on LinkedIn and hit every single one that has the correct job title and maybe is in the area you want to work. But I think the intention behind the class and being purposeful about those applications was really helpful for me, at least. The Greene Center is also a really good resource. That’s our career center. I personally, honestly, haven’t gone to them too much. But for interview prep, they do that. They’ll help you curate resumes, cover letters. They have quiet areas for interviews. I’ve used those quite a few times, actually. So in terms of that, they’re a very good resource. One thing I wish the UofR did more of is hosting a larger career fair. I know that we have one usually in the fall. And if I was a Rochester local, it’d be awesome. Or if I wanted to work in Rochester, it’d be really great. Because it connects a lot of Rochester’s local companies, to the UofR. But I guess it’s my own fault too. I’m from New Jersey. I’m planning on moving back home. So just having to look more outside of the school in terms of maybe not the jobs coming to us necessarily. But one thing I will say is having UofR in my application immediately makes me incredibly competitive. For a long time, I didn’t process that. But I think where I’m at compared to maybe, like, other friends at other universities, I really do think that it put me in a really, really good spot.

Interviewer: Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s a good breakdown of so many areas. And no matter how big the career fair, what school or the name brand, it’s really a mix of everything you’re doing where it’s the people you’re working with, skill development, and then putting yourself out there and being confident and applying to things, like you were saying. So I noticed, I mean, you know, my position just changed a little bit. But when I started out in my current role, a lot of it was just going to career fairs. Some of them, it’s really just local companies. But then some of them do a really good job where they have alums come back and they kind of just put on panels for things that they’re doing for their career. So they’re not even always attached to a company that’s hiring, it’s more informative. They’re just going to give a presentation. You mentioned being lucky. And it’s funny. I think every student says that when I ask that question. And there’s truth to it. It’s luck of who you meet and the connections you make. But it’s also the effort and the things you’re doing to prepare yourself to make the most of that luck. Which I think comes back to the skill and the preparation and the work ethic. So, yeah, it’s a combination of it all. And I think that’s great. Really quick, last couple questions. One just about your current job. Congratulations. Super, super excited for you.

Savannah: Thank you.

Interviewer: That’s, like, the best feeling ever coming out of school. It goes without saying.

So how did you find and secure your job offer?

Savannah: So this past summer I worked as a data management intern at Ocean First Bank. It’s down in Red Bank, New Jersey. It started out as a regional bank, but it’s grown a lot. I believe we’re in, like, five or six states now. And we grow mostly through acquisition. The initial interview process for the internship I truly believe was based solely on whether I’d fit in, within their department in terms of my interests and ability to work with a team. And I really did. I didn’t realize how well I had gelled with them until around a month in. I was, like, wait, I’m friends with these people. This is awesome. And I was just an intern. So also the internship program was awesome. It wasn’t just sitting behind a desk and doing busy work, it was a true internship program. So we did roundtables with our C-suite, which was really awesome, just being able to pick their brains about how they ended up where they are and just about the company also. We did a bunch of banking seminars with other banks in New Jersey. We had a few networking events. One was at Topgolf, which was really fun. I’m not a very good golfer, but I will say I was better than the average person there, I guess. So then the summer ended. Ocean First doesn’t do traditional return offers, but I stayed in contact with my manager. Just because she’s awesome. She golfed Division I and she does Spartan races for fun. So, we kind of clicked with that kind of stuff. And then it was about, I think it was the day before Thanksgiving, thankfully a full-time position opened in the department I was working for. Some changes kind of happened. No one was, fired or anything. They just had some rearranging. And they opened the position. And I applied. It probably took, this was the most nerve-wracking, three weeks of my life. Because I knew I should have had a good chance of getting this job, but I just hadn’t heard anything back initially. But I think, yeah, I think I just have to be realistic in how fast the corporate world works, which is slow. Very slow. And then I was home over break. So I got an interview in person. And it was great. I just went to interview back with the same team I worked for. So it was less of a who are you, and more of how have the past six months been? And then, about a week and a half after that, I heard back from them that I got the job. Which was really cool. And then, like, two days later, I think I accepted it. And it was right before we went back or we came back to school. So while I was very frustrated with how long it was taking, like, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

Interviewer: So patience. Yeah, patience and perseverance. And, I mean, obviously, the event was at Top Golf because your co-worker played in college – she must have been crazy good. Yeah, that’s a good advantage. Well, that’s cool. We’re getting our Zoom countdown here. So really quickly, last question back to undergrad.

What is your best advice for making the most of your undergrad experience?

Savannah: I would say just to get involved. But commit yourself to things that you know you can give 100% to. There’s a lot of people who say they’re in, like, six different clubs. And they’re on the e-board of all six. Personally I don’t think that’s possible. If it is and you’re that person, all power to you. But the things that I’m involved with, I can confidently say that I give 100% of my efforts to. So,  varsity softball, I absolutely love that. And I know I want to give 100% every day. I have an on-campus job. Also love that. I’m president of the varsity student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC). That was kind of unexpected. But something that I’ve been loving putting a lot of energy into. So just being intentional about what you get yourself into. And being passionate about those things. If it’s something that you know you’re not going to love to go to every day, don’t be afraid to say this isn’t for me. Even if it’s something that might be required because of your major, if it doesn’t feel right and you don’t feel like you can give all of yourself to it, I don’t think it is worth it. But really still trying to get yourself out there. Meet as many people as you can. Network. Stay in touch. And have fun. Like, this is the most fun four years I’ve had. I can’t believe it’s almost over. So I would just enjoy, like, literally everything. Every day.

Interviewer: Yeah. That’s great advice. I think whether it’s just softball, starting out, first year, just getting settled. Or six things if you’re that person. Slowing down and not spreading yourself too thin, just like you’re saying. All right. I’ll pause there. Thank you so much for joining Savannah. I loved my time at the University of Rochester and I think so many students will benefit from your insight.