STORY BY hannah kirk
ILLUSTRATION BY GEORGIA REIDY
Biagio Raimondi has never done anything casual in his life. The strong curiosity that has been instilled in him from a young age, has curated a desire to continuously learn about and master whatever has intrigued him.
“Freshman year, I didn’t know a lot about finance. So, outside of class I started reading the Wall Street Journal, and I would watch the Federal Reserve testimony. I had a little notebook of all these things that I didn't know. I went to my dad, who works in finance, and I went to my professors to ask these questions.”
Despite being a double major in Economics and Business Administration with a Finance Concentration, it took confidence boosts from professionals around him, a strong passion, a binder clip filled with dining hall napkins, and two notebooks filled with small handwriting to land a job at the New York Federal Reserve.
Slowly, the journal began filling with information and answers to his questions. Often times when he was in the dining hall, he would allow his mind to wander. When he thought of a question, or a topic he wanted to investigate further, a napkin wasn’t far, he would write it down and find the answer later.
At first, the majority of his learning was based on independent study. But as he progressed in the business curriculum, his studies in the classroom excelled, matched with great professors. Biagio cites Brian Haughey, an Associate Professor of Finance and the director of the investment center, as a major influence in his development and understanding of the finance world.
The summer before taking Professor Haughey’s class, Biagio interned in a small tech firm. “I had a really good time there. But I worked with Ivy League kids there. And it was intimidating. Professor Haughey was actually the first person to say in class, you know, don't feel threatened by these kids. A lot of them are smart. You're just as smart as they are,” Biagio recalled.
“Having someone like Professor Haughey who is so smart, and believes that you are as smart as they are was such a confidence boost that changed the path of my career.”
Despite having much support from professionals in the field for his accomplishments, he remains humble. “I understand that I got really lucky to get my foot in the door at the Fed.”
Mixed with that luck, it was his passion that he gives credit to that allowed for the drive he has.
“If I wasn't passionate about it, if I didn't like the material, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to read in my spare time. It was really the studying outside of the classroom early that set me apart.”
The only thing Biagio does casually is watch The Office —which he has seen 37 times. “I always took everything I did seriously. Like really seriously,” Biagio said.
His curiosities also grew alongside his competitive drive for success. When he first tried playing golf, Biagio was fascinated by the game and wanted to get better. His cousin Louis was extremely good at the sport. During summer, the two played every day, and while his cousin’s skill was more advanced than his, the secret to victory was in the mental game.
“One time we played in a tournament. I did not expect to win, [but I did]. I lost to him 20 times before that. I think that he was nervous because it was expected that he would beat me. I wasn’t, and I was able to beat him. I think that shows how your mental state will influence how you perform. That is something I took from golf and him.”
“I am a hard believer that any athlete or anyone looking to pursue a career, should have their mental strength be as much of a focus as the study or practice. At the end of the day, if you don’t believe that you can do it, you won't.”
Those two notebooks and a clip of napkins are living somewhere in his room. Sometimes Biagio looks at the notebooks to see where he started from. “It's weird because they start with really, really basic questions and they move to more complex questions. Just so if you just go through that notebook, you can see the progression of learning.”
Despite graduating from college soon, Biagio doesn’t see his habits of independent learning coming to an end anytime soon. He believes they will transcend into other areas of his life. When he develops a new passion, the same characteristics that allowed him to succeed will follow him.
“I think in some ways my independent learning has already evolved. I like to challenge myself in different ways. I don’t know what I am going to do, but I am excited to figure it out.”
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