2018 Best & Brightest: Matthew Jegier, Elon University

by: Jeff Schmitt on April 01, 2018 | 695 Views

Matthew Jegier

Elon University

“Competitive, hard-working student-athlete passionate about soccer, helping others, and having a good time.”

Fun fact about yourself: I am the only person in my family who can grow a beard.

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

High School: Providence Senior High School

Major: Finance and Data Analytics Management

Minor: N/A

Favorite Business Course:

  • Strategic Management- This class focused on the bigger picture of business and summed up all of our business classes at Elon. We focused on real companies, addressed real problems, and developed real solutions. We learned how to use the knowledge we gained from the successes/failures of others and the information taught in the classroom to make the best strategic decision.
  • Portfolio Management- This class is through the Business Fellows program at Elon. Eleven other business fellows and I manage over a quarter of a million dollars of Elon’s endowment (with the oversight of a finance professor with many years of experience). This experience is vastly different than a simulated portfolio for the obvious reason of actual money, but also because we are helping enhance the long-term growth of the portfolio as opposed to the growth over a single semester.

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

Elon Men’s Soccer Goalkeeper (2015-present)

  • All-CAA First Team & Goalkeeper of the Year (2017)
  • Academic All-District First Team (2016 & 2017)
  • Current record holder of single-season shutouts (10) and career shutouts (27)
  • CAA All-Rookie Team (2015)
  • Student Athlete Advisory Committee President (2016-present)
    • The committee acts as the liaison between the student-athletes and the athletics department and is comprised of 2 representatives from each of the 17 varsity sports teams at Elon.
    • Conceived and developed a new Elon tradition called Phoenix Phrenzy, which combines three student-led organizations to increase game attendance and team support through marketing campaigns and pre-match tailgates.
    • Implemented a complete restructuring of the committee, including three sub-committees, an Executive Board, formal bylaws, and an engaging branding program.
  • Study Abroad
    • Dubai & Abu Dhabi with the Business Fellows program (2015)
      • 10 day international business trip
      • Met executives from major oil & natural gas corporations as well other multinational corporations based in the UAE.
    • Spain with the men’s soccer team (2015)
      • 7 day trip to Barcelona and Madrid
      • Toured the two beautiful cities and played against three professional teams.
    • South Africa (2015)
      • 2 month service trip to Cape Town
      • Tutored middle school aged children in Math and English.
      • Completed coursework in community development in Post-Apartheid South Africa.
    • Business Fellows
      • Selected as one of 25 from a pool of 180 applicants based off rigorous applications and an interview process.
      • Followed a strict curriculum combining abroad experiences (UAE 2015) and business-specific courses.
    • Undergraduate Research (2016-present)
      • Innovating Returns: Incentive Alignment and Acquirer Innovation in Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Hand collected data on the whereabouts of over 1,500 top executives who worked for a company that was acquired in the last 20 years.
    • Beta Gamma Sigma
    • President’s List
    • Love School of Business Honor Roll for Social Responsibility

Where have you interned during your college career? (List Companies, Locations and Roles)

  • Ernst & Young – Risk Advisory Intern, Charlotte NC
    • Collaborated with EY team and client executives to update walkthrough documents and perform interim control tests.
    • Analyzed industry trends, risks, and best practices to assist with an annual risk assessment for a long-term client.
    • Sat in on meetings with C-Suite and other executives of the client to determine risks and potential solutions.
  • Glen Raven, Inc. – Planning Department Intern in the Custom Fabrics Division, Glen Raven NC
    • Analyzed and manipulated data to automate reporting applications used for demand, inventory, and supply planning.
    • Restructured and modified a Microsoft Access database saving the planning department roughly 100 hours a year.
    • Gained knowledge in operations and supply chain management by attending all meetings and shadowing coworkers.

Where will you be working after graduation?

  • Company- Ernst & Young
  • Title- Business Consultant in the Business Advisory Program for Financial Services Organizations
  • Location- Charlotte, NC

Who is your favorite professor? While I have had many outstanding professors at Elon, my favorite has to be Dr. Chris Harris. I had him as a professor for Advanced Managerial Finance and Financial Planning. Dr. Harris did a great job of tying in the fundamental information of the courses with relevant current events. All of the assignments in his classes were practical and important to what I wanted to do after I graduated. On top of this, he is very passionate about what he teaches; he truly cares about his students, and he holds students to a high standard by pushing them to be the best that they can be.

What did you enjoy most about your business school? The Love School of Business is a relatively small business school, but it has a big personality. The average class consists of around 26 students, even for introductory classes. This gave me all of the benefits of a small school, including a good relationship with my professors and the ability to feel comfortable asking questions in class. On the other hand, Elon acts like a big school in many ways. Our student professional development center is fantastic, assisting students every step of the way on my career search; our professors have many years of experience in the industry they are teaching in; and there are countless number of hands-on programs including case competitions, trainings, and special classes (such as my Portfolio Management class). This combination provided me with an excellent education that can easily be translated into my career.

What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? I would advise any student who is looking to major in a business-related field to keep an open mind. Although this seems fairly simple, it can be very difficult sometimes. In many aspects of business, there is not always one right way to accomplish something. For this reason, it is important for a student to keep an open mind in order to learn from others, even when they do not agree with what they are saying. They can do this by asking the right questions and truly listening to the answers. Even if their original idea or thought didn’t change, they will learn what the other side thinks and strengthen their understanding on the subject.

“If I didn’t major in business, I would be majoring in or studying…computer science. I enjoy solving difficult problems, and I see computer science as an avenue commonly used to solve difficult problems. Furthermore, computer science is widening its reach on the business world. In the past, computer science was very limited to skilled programmers and developers. Today, code has been simplified and can be learned by anyone. Furthermore, this code can be applied to more areas of business, especially data analytics. Companies such as IBM are using computer science to run predictive analytics on airplanes, elevators, security threats, etc. I am very curious and excited to see what the field of computer science will look like in five years.”

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college?  When I started looking into colleges, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to major in business. The biggest influencer on this decision had to be my father. He has had a vast career in many different businesses; he even started a couple of his own businesses. I have always been interested in the type of work that he does and the impact he makes on the companies he works for. I will never forget him trying to explain to me in middle school how the stock market worked. Although I did not fully understand the concept at that time, I was still intrigued by how businesses worked and what made them successful. Furthermore, I saw how hard he works and how much he enjoys what he does. I knew that I wanted a field where I can use my talents to work hard to make an impact and enjoy doing it.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? NCAA Men’s Soccer Academic All-District First Team. There is one goalkeeper from each of the 8 districts in the United States who receives this. It is based off of a combination of awards and performance on the soccer field and in the classroom. I am proud of this award because it is the embodiment of a student-athlete. I have received this award for the past two years, but have come up just short of the Academic All-American team. I still have one season to accomplish this and am working my hardest to do so.

Which classmate do you most admire? This question was one of the most difficult for me to answer. At Elon, I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with many talented and passionate students. The one student who stood out above the rest is Matt Snow. I met him during Fellows Weekend when we went to Elon to interview for the Business Fellows program. Since then, I have seen Matt immerse himself in everything he is passionate about at Elon. He is the lead guitarist in the most popular band on campus; he competes in as many case competitions he possibly can (and wins a lot of them!); and he is loved by everyone who gets to know him. I admire him because he is not afraid to be his own person. Is he perfect? No, but he follows his dreams and will find success from it.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? There are a countless number of people at Elon who have been instrumental to my success. Therefore, I feel that it would be fitting to thank the person who made all of that happen: Dr. Leo Lambert. Dr. Lambert was the President of Elon from 1999 to 2017. During his tenure as President, Elon has growth significantly to be the outstanding university it is today. For this reason, I can attribute everything that Elon has done for me and the success I have had at this school to the hard work of Dr. Lambert and his administration in the past 18 years.

What would your theme song be? “Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba. The chorus of this song repeats the phrase “I get knocked down, and I get up again. You’re never going to keep me down.” This song is not only my theme song because I used to listen to it all the time when I was a kid, but also because it highlights my persistence and drive. I have been knocked down many times in my life, but this song has reminded me to keep getting back up and making sure that I work hard enough to get past anyone who tries to hold me back.

What are the top two items on your bucket list?

  • Visit every continent (including Antarctica!)
  • Have a position in the c-suite of a company

Favorite book: Inferno by Dan Brown

Favorite movie: The Shawshank Redemption

Favorite vacation spot: Cayman Islands. It is my favorite vacation spot because I can enjoy SCUBA diving, nice beaches, and quality time with my family.

What are your hobbies?

  • I enjoy playing almost every kind of sport. Although I play soccer full-time at my university, I still enjoy playing other sports with my friends. I enjoy it because it is a fun social activity that gets me outside and moving around.
  • Learning new things. This hobby is very vague, because my interests change. Currently, I am working on self-teaching myself the source code programming languages R and Python.
  • Meeting new people. I am an extrovert and I love hearing the stories of other people. Not one person in this entire world is the same, and I enjoy learning about the beliefs and perspectives of the people who I come in contact with. I not only hear some really cool stories, but my knowledge on the world grows through each person I talk to.

What made Matthew such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2018?  

“Matthew Jegier is a great student, as well as a great person to be around. I was able to observe Matt as a top performing student in the classroom, not just on exams but also by participating in class discussions and contributing to the class environment. Additionally, I witnessed the intellectual curiosity he demonstrated through his work with a faculty member on research that was not required for his major. These academic successes have come while Matt has also been successful as the starting goalie for the Elon men’s soccer team and through serving in leadership roles on campus. I have additionally witnessed him as a friend and mentor to others, both in athletics and out, as they have sought his support when encountering difficulties. Matt has shown – in multiple ways – his ability to learn, lead, and compete at high levels.”

Dr. Chris Harris
Assistant Professor of Finance

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