“Reaching Your Dream” series tells stories of Northwestern alums who found their dream careers thanks to Chicago Field Studies (CFS), an academic internship program that matches over 500 students every year with over 250 employer partners. CFS participants receive guidance on choosing internships based on their passions and values, navigating applying and interviewing, and succeeding in the professional world. While interning, students process their experiences in weekly CFS seminars, where they reflect on the place of work in their lives and the role of their industry in society.
By Nina Wieda
Manny Buendia ‘23 majored in economics and psychology at Northwestern and is currently a Financial Analyst at Gallagher. A first-generation college student and a first-generation American, Manny credits Chicago Field Studies with helping him discover potential careers and navigate the job market.
Until the age of five, Manny spoke primarily Spanish. His parents came to the United States from León, Guanajuato, Mexico, in pursuit of better opportunities along with five of his father’s eight siblings. Manny spent his early childhood in Romeoville, Illinois, surrounded by his extended Spanish-speaking family. “It was easier for me to start school than for my older sister, though, because my sister started before me and could help me with English,” Manny recalls. He quickly adjusted to the new linguistic environment, was invited to take an academic performance test, and tested into a gifted elementary school class.
His parents never had a chance to finish high school. Money was tight, and his father had to leave school after the 6th grade, and his mother – after the 5th grade to help support their families. “My mother always wished she could have gone to school longer, and she transferred her dreams of education onto us. When we were young, she’d print out additional sheets of math problems and have us do additional homework,” Manny smiles when he remembers his first experiences with math. “I started liking it, too, and asked for more math homework to do, to see how quickly I could finish it.”
Manny and his family
In high school, Manny took all honors classes, became a member of the National Honor Society, thrived on the math team, ran cross country, played soccer, and rated third in his class academically. Despite all that, he was still planning to go to community college, simply because it was the only path that his parents knew or could afford with their warehouse jobs. An insight came from an unexpected source: Manny’s good friend from cross country told him about the Questbridge program that grants scholarships to FGLI students and matches them with colleges. Manny decided to give it a try, and listed Northwestern as his top choice.
“I found out that I got into Northwestern while we were stretching after a cross country practice. I’m not super expressive with these things, so when I opened the email and saw that Northwestern accepted me, I just said, “Oh my Gosh.” But my friend Justin – the one who told me about Questbridge – got very excited, called our coach, gathered the rest of the team, and we all enjoyed that moment together.”
At Northwestern, Manny quickly felt at home. “I was enjoying just being in the company of such awesome and bright people.” He picked Statistics as his major because he had enjoyed statistics in high school. Later, he took a microeconomics class with Professor Sarah Hernandez and a macroeconomics class with Professor Mark Witte as distribution requirements and enjoyed them so much that he changed his major to Economics.
Manny and his friends, intramurals
Manny was doing well in his classes, volunteering at an animal shelter in Evanston, and running with the Running Club, but his professional future remained hazy. “My parents always told me, you should find something different than a manual labor job, something that allows you to be successful by using your brain. But beyond that, they didn’t have much advice for me.”
Talking to his peers in Economics classes, Manny noticed that many of them pursued jobs in investment banking and consulting – career paths that require a sequence of internships. “I didn’t realize how important internships were until I was at Northwestern. Once I found out that I was supposed to be doing internships, it felt like I was already one step behind.”
Manny is happy to have discovered Chicago Field Studies in time for it to make a difference. “I don’t know what I would have done without CFS, because I hardly knew where to start. I didn’t have much direction. When I was looking for a career, I was learning primarily through word of mouth and conversations with friends.” With the help of CFS, Manny secured an internship in investment banking, then another one in marketing, and gained a lot of experience interviewing. “Those repetitions of interviews really solidified my interview skills and my comfort level with the whole process. CFS also provided a lot of resources: how to use Linkedin and Handshake, for example. It was all really useful information for me and I’m super grateful to the program.”
After completing his internships, Manny worked for CFS as a student consultant, focusing on supporting other FGLI students. His junior summer, he went on study abroad to Germany and really loved the experience. “We also took a trip to the Czech Republic and Austria. I’ve never seen mountains as vast as the Alps! It’s really cool to see how different places can be compared to home.” His travels in Europe inspired Manny to try out living in a new place. After graduating, he moved to Minneapolis, where he is currently doing physician compensation consulting for Gallager.
While getting to know Minneapolis, Manny volunteers for CFS helping current students practice their interview skills. He is also beginning to help his younger sister, who is in middle school, with her studies. “She has me now. I can give her guidance in whatever it is she wants to do.”
Manny and his friends, graduation