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Ahsan Lodhika’s interest in business was sparked in high school, first when he took an accounting class and then as he dove into finance through activities with the school’s business club. When it came time for college, he says, Illinois Tech was his top choice because of the accelerated master’s degree program and the strength of the Master of Science in Finance program at Stuart School of Business.

A highlight of Lodhika’s college experience was a paid internship with CME Group, working in the company’s SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) department. The team he was on makes sure that clearing and post-trade transactions flow properly through the secure SWIFT network that connects CME Group with banks around the world.

After 18 months as an intern, “the work I [was] doing is what a full-time employee would do,” Lodhika says. Working with his colleagues to expand the department’s client base, he drew on all aspects of his business training, from fundamentals in marketing to financial modeling to sensitivity analysis. After he graduated, the firm hired Lodhika as a financial systems analyst.

“A lot of students say, ‘I’m learning this and don’t know when I’ll apply it,’” Lodhika notes. “That’s the benefit of an internship, you get to see where you will apply the concepts. Anything you learn in class you can apply to your job.”