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Seizing opportunities: An interview with Eugenia Trakal

Q&A with Eugenia Trakal

Discover what it’s really like to be an undergraduate student at ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business, Where Business is Personal.® This conversation with Eugenia Trakal has been edited and condensed.

Question: What brought you to W. P. Carey?

Answer: I am an in-state student from Gilbert, Arizona. I was debating between a few Ivy League schools: my final decision was between Harvard, UPenn's Huntsman program, and ASU. It was a difficult process, but it ultimately came down to a few core reasons. Financially, I received a full-ride scholarship thanks to the Flinn Foundation and the McCord Scholars Program, which I'm super grateful to all the donors here at ASU and W. P. Carey that made it possible. There were also numerous leadership opportunities here on campus. I've had the chance to be a part of so many clubs and extracurricular activities outside of my day-to-day classes. Also getting to deep dive into finance, my major, receiving internship opportunities, working with the career coaches that are here on campus, and the faculty as well, plus study abroad all has made college an incredible experience.

Q: What makes the ASU and W. P. Carey community so special?

A: I'm a part of Barrett, the Honors College, along with also being in the W. P. Carey Leaders Academy. W. P. Carey and all of these different communities have honestly made ASU feel so much smaller. When I first thought about coming to ASU, I thought, "Wow, it's a huge public institution." But at the end of the day, I've found these small communities and organizations have made it feel so much more special, closer, and tight-knit. That's where ASU and W. P. Carey are really differentiated for me. Leaders Academy has been one of my favorite perks of being at W. P. Carey, just immediately getting connected with like-minded students who are presidents and leaders within top student organizations. Just having these organizations on campus really differentiated ASU and W. P. Carey for me.

Q: Why did you choose to major in finance?

A: My path to finance is all thanks to the mentors I've had along the way. Most of them are ASU alumni who I was able to meet before coming to ASU, which I'm super grateful for. (Shoutout to Gary Trujillo at the Be A Leader Foundation, and all of the Be A Leader mentors.) What I did freshman year, getting to explore all the different majors and programs, that's another benefit of being a part of W. P. Carey. There's so many different options, not just for your major, but for your minor, certificates, etc. Through exploring the programs and getting hands-on experience across different organizations, like the Arizona Microcredit Initiative and the Financial Management Association and other activities, it helped me understand that finance is super important. Not only because of how valuable capital is in terms of achieving waves within our economy, but also in business and, broadly, the society. That's why, for me, finance was super interesting, and I've since pursued investment banking and going into private equity, thanks to different internship opportunities I was able to land through W. P. Carey.

Q: Can you speak about your experience customizing your education with a minor, certificate, and study abroad program?

A: The advisors on campus are super helpful. I came in not knowing if I'd be able to get one-on-one support, but any time I need them, they're always there and available. It's been really helpful. Coming in my first year, I had all of these different interests, like finance, sustainable investing, real estate, and international business. I was wondering how to combine them through academic resources as well as on campus. So I sat with my advisor, and she helped me plan out my whole schedule, which was super helpful in that sense too. So that led me to doing finance with a minor in real estate and a certificate in international business, which I'm super grateful for. Studying abroad is a component of the international business certificate, and I got to do that after my freshman year. I went to France and studied abroad, and I got most of my course requirements completed through that, which was absolutely amazing. I was in France for five weeks, and it was a really beautiful, amazing experience. Through ASU and W. P. Carey, it's super easy to major across different colleges and take different classes where you choose, and that's been really helpful.

Q: W. P. Carey strives to be a place Where Business is Personal.® What does that mean to you?

A: For me, I wouldn't have landed any opportunity without the mentors I've had or the people I've met, the upperclassmen who were gracious and passed down information to me. The community is so large, but at the same time, so small, especially within W. P. Carey. The school is so large, but at the same time, you can find your little communities through extracurricular activities and different organizations and clubs. There's so much collaboration that happens across W. P. Carey. For me, working in the Arizona Microcredit Initiative, we cross-collaborate with Barrett the Honors College, the Leaders Academy, and different organizations and involvement opportunities as well. So business being personal, to me, means relationships matter, especially within this industry. I wouldn't have been able to land where I did without other people helping me.

Q: How did you find the organizations you're involved in, and how has being a part of them enhanced your ASU experience?

A: My first year, I wanted to explore anything and everything, and thankfully, W. P. Carey is definitely the place to do so. There's so many different organizations you can take part in. I've been in Business Ambassadors since freshman year. In the Arizona Microcredit Initiative, it was a fantastic experience to be able to be on an executive board my freshman year. I'm also part of the ASU Symphony, so totally unrelated to business, but it allows me to explore my interests outside of business school, which has been really great. I'm also now co-leading the Investment Banking Industry Scholars Program. Last summer, I was in New York, interning at Goldman Sachs, which was a really phenomenal experience. Now getting able to pay it back and give back to and educate other students who are interested in this opportunity has been such a great experience for me. So I'm involved in several different opportunities, which I think is one of the benefits and why I chose to come to W. P. Carey. There's so many different involvement opportunities you can take advantage of, and those are just a few of them that I've been in.

Q: What does it mean to you to be a first-generation student, and what advice do you have for others in the same situation?

A: I think it's made my journey and path so much more valuable, in the sense that what I want to do is because of my parents, who sacrificed so much to leave their home country to come here. Even just meeting other first-gen students and hearing about their stories, their backgrounds, and all the hardships they've faced. I think that's what makes ASU and W. P. Carey so unique, is that it's so welcoming and accessible to everyone. So I never really felt like I had a "first-gen" tag, necessarily, because it's always been that I can seek out support whenever I need it. There's been several different organizations, including the Fleischer Scholars program that I was involved in before coming to ASU, which I think was another reason I chose to come here. It's literally a dedicated program for first-gen and low-income students to be able to go through their college journey and map out their path after graduation. That's been another super helpful organization that I'm now a mentor in and getting to do the same thing, so that's definitely a full-circle moment for me.

My advice to first-generation students is to take on every opportunity possible. There's so much here at W. P. Carey, a whole world of people to meet. Just reach out, ask for 15 minutes of their time to learn from their path. You'd be surprised. I think every single person I've reached out to and talked to has responded to me within the week or even the day, offering to help. I think that's what makes W. P. Carey super special. Yes, it's such a big school, but at the end of the day, there's always opportunities to take on, and leadership across different organizations, along with a huge support system happy to help.

Q: How has W. P. Carey prepared you for your future career, and what are your plans after graduation?

A: The alumni have definitely made my path clear and helped me think through where I want to be. That was another aspect that made me a bit hesitant initially coming to W. P. Carey, wondering if the alumni base would be as strong as the Ivy League schools, because at the end of the day, being on the east coast recruiting for New York offices makes it all easier. But it's been so surprising, in the best way possible, that the alumni base is super helpful and always willing to support in that sense. So last summer, I was at Goldman Sachs in New York doing investment banking. It was a really great experience, especially for me being interested in finance. I already locked in my internship for this past summer the February of the year before. It was all thanks to the mentors I had that I was able to learn about things earlier, and through IBIS (Investment Banking Industry Scholars Program), that I had so much exposure I honestly didn't expect coming into W. P. Carey.

Post-graduation, I already have my full-time offer lined up within private equity, which I'm really grateful for, especially just being a junior. Again, I think it's all thanks to the mentors that were able to pass down all the information to me, and really just the transfer of knowledge that's present here at W. P. Carey.