My DLM experience: When I got to DLM, I didn’t know what to expect except to try not to get on the nerves of the CEO.  I mean sure, nobody wants to get on the nerves of their boss. However, Mr. Ayere got me more scared then I expected to be. I had formed this opinion entirely from watching his interviews online. He is brilliant, innovative, straight to the point, and seemed way too serious to have a first-year undergraduate on his radar, at the time.

 

I got into work on a Monday and the opinion I had formed couldn’t have been more wrong. I had to wait a few days, but I finally met Mr. Ayere and he was a totally different person from who I had envisioned.  He actually engaged me in conversations, asked about school, and was generally a very approachable person. Needless to say, I knew I was going to have fun!

 

I was taken under the wings of an employee in the Advisory department, Mr. Uzoma Okoro. He is more or less the reason I’m actually working here.  In general, the Advisory team is awesome, not just for the fact that they, for the most part, would cover my feeding or cab fare, but I mean they were open to putting me through the entire concept of Structured Finance or at least,  what I could handle.

 

Uzo is a great guy, always ready to explain anything I had problems with …..and they tended to be a lot. But alas, I had no choice but to reach out to him when he was not busy. This happens to be less often than not. When I could not get a hold of  Uzo, there was Samuel who is also very well versed in the realm of Structured Finance. As much as Uzo had put me through, Sam has put in his fair share as well in ensuring I understood the different aspects of the job. Then there is Emeka. He is the head of the team. A very nice guy who always has some form of knowledge in some key areas.  And the rest of the team are all really nice people that have taken their time to impart knowledge during my time here.

 

All in all, I spent one month at DLM and I must say the experience was a lot more than I had originally thought it would be . Honestly, I thought it would be one of those summer jobs where I will be lost because it was too technical for me to grasp the basics but that was not the case here. Instead it was a great working experience and I learned a lot. The experience was so impactful that I am actually writing about it.  Thank you  to everyone for taking the time to explain stuff to me. I will always remember the little debates we had as well.  So as summer winds down, I am looking forward to spending some chill time with family and friends before its back to school time.

 

See you next summer… if you will have me.. J