Name: Hezel Gadzikwa
Class Year: 2018
Major: Mathematics
Hometown: Guruve, Zimbabwe

Internship Placement: Research Assistant
Location: Bryn Mawr College

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer, I am a research assistant for a professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Finance department. The first part of my research was mostly “data scrapping” for a research paper on the effects of mergers and acquisitions on stock prices. The last part of my internship involves a substantial amount of literature review on covered interest rate parity. After the 2008 great financial crisis, CIP, which has been described as the closest thing to a physical law in Finance, was lost, and my research focuses on the reasons as why this “law” that was used in International currency trade has deviated.

Why did you apply for this internship?

After having a very interesting semester in my financial derivatives class at the University of Pennsylvania, I decided to further satisfy my curiosity as to the role that the financial sector played in the crash of the stock market in 2008. The great financial crisis had many negative impacts and has caused significant monetary policy changes worldwide.

What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect?

I never really anticipated how frustrating research can be when you are definitely trying to come up with a convincing argument as to why what you think is important. Literature reviews and discerning what is important also requires extensive research and understanding of what you are studying. So in order to understand a concept, I have to research various projects and also look into what other professionals have to say about it.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

After graduating from Bryn Mawr in 2018, I plan on going to graduate school and I think getting some research experience is key to being a successful graduate candidate. I also love how much I learn about the different companies I research and the continuous enrichment of my finance knowledge.