Hello everyone! My name is Michael Evangelista. I am a returning student, having been away from the academic world for a number of years. I am considered a junior and I am a political science major. In my earlier ‘incarnation’ at Penn State, back when the University was still known as The Farmer’s High School (just kidding!) I was a business major. After leaving school I worked for many years in the brokerage industry, not as a broker, but on the ‘clearing’ side of the business, everything that happens after you make your trade. I now work for the world’s second-largest insurance company, in the annuities division, helping brokers and agents with their new business problems. I was born in Newark, NJ, one of the garden spots of the world, and now live in Nutley, which is seven miles north. New Jersey, as some of you may know, is the Superfund capital of the country, having 113 sites on the EPA’s National Priorities List. Nutley does not have any sites on the list, but does have several toxic sites as identified by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Yikes! Why do I still live here? I think you can see some of my motivation for taking this course. On the more personal side, I am an avid fan of jazz and I do a lot of walking. In fact, last September I walked the exact route of the Boston Marathon, all 26.2 miles, to raise money for cancer research.
I am interested in the ‘intersection’ of geography and politics. For example, sudden, extremely heavy rains after years of drought in Afghanistan have led to flash floods and the displacement of large numbers of people. The migration of these people to nearby countries has placed enormous strain on the recipient countries’ resources and political structures. These situations affect the overall political atmosphere of the Middle East and, in turn, our domestic politics. As a political science major, and a person interested in politics in general, I want to understand the impact of geography on our political policies and structures. Closer to home, I want to learn about the effects of climate change on our daily lives and what I can do to combat its negative effects.
Good luck to everyone and study hard!
Hey Michael, I’m currently a Geography major at University Park. I’m obligated to share my post with you, http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/01/19/module-one-getting-to-know-you/ . I’d like to go a little off topic and ask you about the financial industry. Are movies like The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short depictive of the actual financial industry? Both are supposedly true to an extent, but breaking a number of monetary laws and betting millions of your company’s wealth on the failure of mortgages both seem too outrageous to actually happen. Are these types of risks common? Good luck finishing your degree.
Tyler Pegarella
Tyler,
Thank you for the question. I have not yet seen The Big Short, though I plan to. The Wolf of Wall Street is fairly closely based on an actual firm – Stratton Oakmont. Though the people involved were not as good looking as Leonardo DiCaprio, the events depicted are pretty close to the truth. Crazy, huh?
I have seen some fairly outrageous strategies lose a lot of people’s money. So if you plan to invest, make sure you investigate and know your broker! FINRA (The Financial Regulatory Agency) has a good website for this. Also talk to the broker’s current investors to find out if they are happy.
Good luck in this course and study hard!
Mike