Billy Carrigan

Billy Carrigan is a 21-year-old Finance major and a Vermont native. He is a self-described “goofball,” but also a confident young man with a strong sense of personal values. Aside from his affiliation with the Pforzheimer Honors College, Billy is also a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon International Honor Society in Economics, Golden Key International Honor Society, the Lubin Leaders and Scholars Program, and Alpha Chi National Honor Society.

Billy came to Pace University in the fall of 2004 after being recruited by Pace’s former lacrosse coach, John Jez, to play Division II lacrosse. He was ecstatic to have been selected to play on a nationally ranked team and thrilled that the school had a great academic reputation.

When Billy first began, he was an International Management major. Later, he switched to Accounting and, finally, to Finance. Billy says that his childhood experiences actually helped him realize what he wanted to do. “I used to spend hours writing down hockey statistics from my hockey video games, analyzing the data and making trades, trying to win my little Nintendo Stanley Cup. Finance is quite similar, except you’d be analyzing Google, not Wayne Gretzky.” He is quite happy with his decision.

During the school year, Billy works in the office of the Dean for Students and says he thoroughly enjoys working with the people there.  Over this past summer, Billy also worked as a Pace University Orientation Leader, an experience he truly believes helped him grow as a person. He says, “I became an Orientation Leader because I wanted to spread the good word of Pace. Too many students, at least in my experiences, openly bash Pace, with no grounds for their rants! So I figured, if you want to change the attitude of the student body, why not help mold the culture?” He hopes that by sharing his experiences and promoting a proactive stance, he is helping to shape the future of Pace University into a more involved group of students.

It is obvious that Billy really loves his University. When asked what is his best memory of Pace, he says that there is no way he could pinpoint just one. He does mention spending time with some of his Dow Hall dormmates doing spontaneous activities during his first year among the top, though.

To his fellow classmates, Billy gives two pieces of advice. He says, first, “Smile a lot. I guess it’s a New York thing, but a lot of people I meet seem too busy to enjoy themselves. While it’s true that hard work will get you where you want to be, you won’t enjoy getting there, or being there, unless you allow yourself some ‘happy time.’” He also reminds students, “Keep going! Sometimes, especially around finals, it can seem like the workload is unbearable. Trust me, the only way to relieve the stress is to confront your worries head-on.” He says tactics like making schedules of work, taking things a little bit at a time, and taking study breaks have helped him.

In the future, Billy says he does not want to make too many plans for his personal life. He would rather let things happen as they may, believing, “If you give ‘now’ 100%, ‘tomorrow’ will take care of itself.” He does have one goal, however, that he intends to pursue. Billy plans on working for Fidelity, in either Boston or Rhode Island. He looks forward to moving back to New England and enjoying life there, a bit closer to home.