"You can really broaden

your horizons here..."

Julia Hisayi, who will graduate with a B.B.A. in finance in August, came to Hofstra University from Botswana via a two-year college in Florida. “I was a member of the Honor Society in Florida,” she said, “and Hofstra sent me a letter asking if I wanted to come to Hofstra. I said ‘Yes.’”

The offer, which included an academic scholarship, fit perfectly into Julia’s plans. “I had decided that I wanted to be in the Northeast,” she said, “but I wasn’t sure where.”

In the two years since she came to campus, Julia has left her mark as a student leader. A representative to the Student Government Association both years, she was elected to be comptroller her final year. “I was really shocked when I was elected,” she recalled. “It was my biggest surprise and my biggest accomplishment at Hofstra.” Julia is also the outgoing vice president of the international students organization H*INT. For her accomplishments in both these roles, she was named 2007-2008 International Student Leader of the Year. “That was another wow moment,” she said.

Julia’s favorite class at Hofstra was a course on financial modeling taught by Professor Karagozoglu. “It was the most difficult course,” she said, “but I learned the most out of it. You learn a lot in that class about what goes on in the financial field and you learn a lot as far as Excel goes.” “Dr. K. was very patient with all of us,” she continued, “If you didn’t understand what was going on in class and went to see him during office hours, he would sit there and very patiently explain things over and over again. It meant a lot to be able to go see him during office hours.”

The course allowed Julia to use the resources of the Martin B. Greenberg Trading Room, one of the most advanced academic trading rooms in the nation, with 34 Bloomberg professional terminals that give students access to the same data used by professionals. “Having the trading room is a wonderful thing,” she noted, “especially being able to get Bloomberg certifications. If you were a finance major and didn’t have the trading room, you wouldn’t understand what’s going on.”

Julia noted some of the ways American universities differ from those in her native country: “We don’t have things like homecoming,” she said. “We have soccer and tennis, but not on the homecoming scale.” Then she added, “You can really broaden your horizons here. There are so many clubs that anyone can join, and it’s so easy to start a club.”

On track to receive her degree this summer, Julia hopes to stay in New York and find a job in one of the big financial firms. “I’ve had some interviews,” she said, “so my fingers are crossed.”