In the spirit of March...
Patrick Williams '21, G'22 was 10 years old watching the NCAA basketball tournament with his dad. They lived in Washington, D.C., but the Siena game was appointment television. Patrick's dad, John Williams '84, played basketball for the Saints, and he wanted to see if his alma mater could shock Ohio State in the first round. They famously did, and as announcer Bill Rafferty famously shouted, "Onions, double order!", Patrick knew exactly where he'd go to college.
Seven years later, Patrick called up the golf coach at Siena and told him the story of that basketball game. After a detour through Gonzaga, Patrick landed at his dream school, served as the golf team captain last year, and is now the first graduate student in the 76-year history of the program. And after following his dad to Siena and Division I athletics, he's following him into financial advising.
Patrick interned at Morgan Stanley in D.C. with his dad and his older brother, Danny. It was fun learning the ropes from family, but occasionally frustrating when the receptionist would mistake him for his brother.
Still, John and sons made a good team. Before a family would come to the office for advice (about saving for college, for example), Patrick would take their information and prepare a brief for his dad and brother to use in their consultation with the client. The process usually went smoothly, but sometimes...
"A couple was coming by in 30 minutes, and so I had to rush through my prep. The meeting was scheduled for 2:30, and on the first pass, I got their information wrong. I entered the data into our program a second time, but messed it up again. Finally, I was able to deliver the brief to my brother at 2:28. It was stressful, but the presentation went well!"
Soon, Patrick will be the guy in the room (not just the intern crunching numbers behind the scenes). He has interviews lined up with firms in Albany and back in the D.C. area.
"The Siena business school is so impressive. Everything we learn in the classroom is applied in real life. That's what struck me at Morgan Stanley - just how well the important information is taught at Siena. I'm able to walk into the office and right away speak the same language as everyone else."
Patrick Williams '21, G'22
