Brooks Andrews knows economics. Not only has he already lined up a job with a top investment banking firm on Wall Street, but he was able to maximize his time at UGA by completing two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree in four years. He has been named as a National Merit Scholar, a President’s Scholar, and a Leonard Leadership Scholar, and he is the recipient of UGA’s most prestigious scholarship, a Foundation Fellowship. He has traveled around the world and even eaten a wriggling octopus in the beach in Taiwan. His dream is to play on the PGA Tour, and he would like to meet Warren Buffett some day.
Hometown:
Marietta, Ga.
High School:
Lassiter High School
Degree objective:
B.B.A. in economics and finance, M.A. in economics
Expected graduation:
Spring 2007
University highlights, achievements, awards and scholarships:
I was fortunate enough to be selected as a Leonard Scholar. This program is part of the Terry College of Business’s Institute for Leadership Advancement. I have also had the incredibly opportunity to attend the University as a Foundation Fellow, and I have traveled to 15 countries through the fellowship including Taiwan, New Zealand, Kenya, Fiji, the Czech Republic, and Croatia. I am an Honors student, a National Merit Scholar, and a President’s Scholar. I also founded the Corsair Society, which helps talented UGA undergraduates break into investment banking. I also served on the Honors Program Student Council and on the Delta Prize for Global Understanding committee. I was also recently selected for the Terry College of Business Dean Search Committee. I am the student voice on the committee as we try to find the next dean of the business school, and I think it’s going to be an awesome opportunity during my final semester at UGA.
Current Employment:
I work about 4 hours each week tutoring student athletes in economics for the UGA Athletic Association. I have a couple of review sessions for basic micro/macro economics classes, and I also tutor an individual for microeconomics. It is definitely challenging to prepare sufficiently to be able to teach the material to others.
Family Ties to UGA:
I actually don’t have any family ties to UGA yet. In fact, my family had some anti-UGA sentiments as both my sister and my dad went to Georgia Tech. When I decided to come to UGA, my family thought I was making a bad decision, but after a couple of years of great opportunities and finding my own path, they realized that I had made the right decision for me. Now, I’ve convinced my nieces that UGA may be the place for them!
I chose to attend UGA because…
…of the Foundation Fellowship. I don’t think I could have had a better opportunity at any other university, regardless of prestige. The fellowship has enabled me to travel the world, embarking on trips to New Zealand, Fiji, Taiwan, Croatia, Kenya, and several other countries for an educational and cultural experience that was also enjoyable. Combine the fellowship with one of the best college towns in America, an awesome football team, and a university with endless opportunities, and I knew I had one unbeatable option at UGA. I truly believe UGA is the perfect school for just about anyone. With such a large and diverse group of students, quality research opportunities, outstanding athletics, and incredible value, UGA is a great place to be.
My favorite things to do on campus are…
…playing pick-up basketball at Ramsey as often as I can. Playing the intramural sports offered by the department of recreational sports has also been awesome. Of course, my fondest memories will always be of Sanford Stadium and those glorious fall days when our blood runs red and black. Football games will surely continue to draw me back to Athens as the years go by.
When I have free time, I like…
…spending free time with friends, especially as I start reflecting upon what has been a chaotic and fleeting four years. The reality of working and “the real world” is staring me in the face, and I’m trying to make the most of the time I’ve got left by spending it with the people that have made my life meaningful. Sports are pretty much a constant in my life so much of my free time is spent talking about, attending, and watching football, basketball, and golf. I also can’t leave out the occasional game of Madden when the time is right!
The craziest thing I’ve done is…
During spring break of my sophomore year I had the opportunity to accompany about ten other Foundation Fellows and Comparative Literature Professor Dezso Benedek on what will likely go down as the one of the most incredible trips of my lifetime. We spent an entire week living with and learning about the Yami people, the inhabitants of a small island off the coast of Taiwan. As part of our experience, we caught much of our own food—just as the Yami did—by fishing and then cooking right on the beach. One afternoon, we were fortunate enough to catch an octopus! In an action that I still can’t rationalize today, I joined my friends and ate a piece of the freshly-caught octopus, wondering what I had done as the piece continued to wiggle around as it traveled down my esophagus and into my stomach!
My favorite place to study is…
…in my apartment. If I’ve really got to bear down and make sure that I get a lot done, I will go to the lower level of the Law Library or find a corner of the Main Library. Those places are almost always pretty quiet, which I must have if I’ve got a lot of reading to do. For math or actual problems, I can pretty much work anywhere.
My favorite professor is…
…Don Keenan in the economics department. The majority of my collegiate coursework has been related to economics, and I can credit Professor Keenan and the classes I had with him during my freshman and sophomore years with developing my interest. First, I took intermediate microeconomics with him and it was truly my “welcome to college” course. I walked in the first day and got the syllabus; we had only a midterm and a final. He said to the 35 or so of us in the room, “I could see 4 or 5 of you getting A’s,” so he got my attention pretty quickly. More importantly, he taught in such a way as to challenge us while keeping us interested and connecting everything to the real world.
I would also like to recognize Professor Chris Cornwell, Vice President for Instruction Jere Morehead, and Executive in Residence Earl Leonard who were all invaluable mentors throughout my collegiate career.
If I could share an afternoon with anyone, I would love to share it with…
… Warren Buffett. Over the past 40 years, he has achieved financial returns unmatched by anyone and many of his practices early in his career revolutionized the way we value stocks and companies today. More importantly, in the face of great success and wealth, he has never compromised his values or let his humble nature change. I would love to sit down and question him about how he has maintained such incredible returns and how he has managed people and companies in such a way as to produce long-term success. I expect he would also have a wealth of knowledge pertaining to relationships, staying resolute in your beliefs, and the importance of humility that we could all benefit from hearing.
If I knew I could not fail, I would…
…graduate and then hit the golf course! I have always had a pretty intense passion for playing golf, but unfortunately that passion isn’t matched with the time or ability to do it well. If I knew for sure I could not fail, I would set out to earn my PGA Tour card and make it as a professional golfer. I know they work hard, but honestly I couldn’t imagine a better job: traveling, seeing beautiful golf courses around the world, playing with incredibly well-known amateurs and professionals, and making money, all while having fun! Hopefully someday I’ll have the time to pursue this dream seriously.
After graduation, I plan to…
Thankfully I was the given the opportunity to work in New York this past summer as an analyst for Lehman Brothers, an investment bank. I received a full-time offer to join the firm after graduation, and that is exactly what I plan to do. I’ll likely take a couple months off to travel the world and be with friends and family one last time before I get sucked into the working life, but I am very excited about moving to New York and working in finance starting in July.
The one UGA experience I will always remember will be…
…my trip to Lan Yu. It was fantastic to fly halfway across the world and experience a culture that doesn’t enjoy the luxuries of electricity or running water, was almost completely isolated from modern society, and just 30 years ago didn’t have a written language. I was able to listen to first-hand accounts of Yami traditions and beliefs, to fish for my own food, and to eat raw octopus and fish stew right on the beach.
