The Other Side of Wall Street: In Business It Pays to Be an Animal, In Life It Pays to Be Yourself

3. Animal House

I walked onto the Syracuse University campus knowing nobody and excited for a fresh start. It was an expensive institution, but the efforts of my mother, support from my grandparents, financial aid, and work-study programs made the experience possible. Syracuse was everything I wanted in a college: a quality education, an expansive campus, a thriving Greek system, and a nationally prominent athletic program.

There were a few familiar faces from Great Neck, but nobody I would consider a friend. That changed the first day of classes when I walked into Sociology 101 in the Maxwell Auditorium. As I sat in the fishbowl-style classroom, a shaggy-haired kid with a Zeta Psi hat was sitting directly in front of me. He was drawing a picture-perfect ...