Hello, my name is Victor Zhou and I’m glad to be back in my home state working at APCM for the summer. While I was born in North Carolina, my family moved to Alaska when I was 4 and I’ve been an Alaskan for as long as I can remember. My favorite activities here are probably hiking and biking, simply because the Alaskan outdoors are so unique compared to anywhere else in the United States. Working here in Alaska has allowed me to go on plenty of hikes and even a river trip with coworkers. While I don’t know if or when I will settle down here, I still feel a special connection to Alaska.
I am currently studying at Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and going into my junior year. I am pursuing a major in applied mathematics and minors in computer science and operations research. Those represent my current academic interests, though I am mainly concentrating on the financial engineering classes in the operations research department. My career goals right now are to either work in software engineering or finance, which is why I applied to APCM’s internship and why I feel my skill set has translated well to the position.
Outside of work and academics, my main interests lie in music, video games, food, and the outdoors. I have played the violin for 15 years and been to national youth orchestras, and I am still involved in a student run orchestra at Columbia. I was also on the Columbia TF2 esports team for a semester. One of the best things about going to school in New York has been the endless number of restaurants and food available to explore. I absolutely love to discover new food and to cook. I do absolutely miss being able to hike on a real trail though. Central Park just doesn’t compare to what you can find in Alaska.
Overall, I’ve been happy with my time at APCM. My only other work experience has been a short stint at Walmart, so working at APCM has given me a lot of experience and knowledge about working in finance that I greatly appreciate. I hope to use what I learned at APCM in my future, and the experience has greatly encouraged me to pursue a career in finance in the future.
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Victor Zhou
Summer Intern
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8/22/22
