May 24th will be my last day here at YU and my last day as a Sy Syms student. As I prepare to leave, I find myself reflecting over the time that I have spent here at Yeshiva. This will be my last column to you, and I have a few things that I wanted to impart but never really had the chance. Please allow me to share a few random thoughts with you. Firstly, before I mention anything, I feel that the upcoming departure of two very special faculty members needs mentioning. Professor Avi Rosenfeld will be sorely missed next year. After having taught here for only two semesters, he has established himself as the premier MIS professor, earning the respect and admiration of his students. Though I have never had the pleasure of sitting in one of his classes, the multitudes of students who have raved about him to me speaks volumes about his teaching ability.

However, the departure that stands out strongest in my mind will be that of Professor Aaron Brown. For the last two years, I have built my schedule around taking his course, often leaving me with little wiggle room for other classes or even taking other courses I'd prefer to have never seen. The reason I did this, and the reason I would continue to do so, were he and I to remain at Yeshiva, is because he has truly been inspirational. Though I have learned much in other finance courses, such as how to use my calculator, or how to calculate the future value of a French ten-year corporate bond, I learned all of the whys with Professor Brown. The argument whether Sy Syms should be more of a practical school or an academic one has raged well before I came here and will continue well after I leave; Professor Brown had the unique talent of merging these two seemingly divergent types of schools. By teaching the students in his courses how to think, he was able to allow us to understand the academic within the practical. Thanks in large part to the courses that I had with Professor Brown, after three years in Sy Syms, I know that the education (and not simply the know-how or knowledge) that I received truly puts me ahead of the competition. He has enabled me to say with pride that I am a student at Sy Syms.

Secondly, there will be a new Dean here next year, and with that Dean a new face comes a new face to the school. Dean Harold Nierenberg has positioned Sy Syms as a credible, competitive school, and employers have taken notice. Now, someone else will come in and try to take us even further. The administration has already agreed to integrate laptops and other technological tools into our learning experience in the next couple of years. Sy Syms' enrollment grows every year, and at this rate, will have more students than Yeshiva College in a short while. What is needed now, is the student body to step in and do what it can to leave the mark of the students. Syms will need student leaders (and not just elected ones) to work with the administration, faculty, and each other to create the environment that you want to see here. You must take the horse by the reins to see that the internship program gets more attention, that the curriculum is giving you the preparation for the career that you wish to pursue, and that the school is helping you to develop into the person that you know you can become. Get Involved!

Thirdly, much is made about the myriad of ways to "play the system." Yes, there is no shortage of students who chase the "Mesorah courses" and the easy 'A', however, after having been here for a significant time, the one thing that I am most grateful for are the fellow students here that have pushed me to excel. The pervasive attitude here is that it is not alright to do okay if one can do well, and that it is not alright to do well in place of great. This attitude, this desire to accomplish, has enabled me to find that extra push at 3:30 in the morning during finals week. The knowledge that the rest of my class would not be letting down gave me the energy I needed to read the chapter one last time. The realization that excellence was the expectation has given me a college experience that I truly cherish. I will be graduating in a few weeks, and I will be proud to say that I went to Sy Syms School of Business. For that, I thank each and every one of you. I wish you well.