Check out a short Q&A with a recent Alumnus!
Name: Adrian L. Mansylla
Grassroots Nickname: A-Dogg
Year you graduated: 2013
Sport, School, and Major: Lightweight Crew, Georgetown MSB 2013
Schools you did programs in:
Francis Stevens
Favorite Grassroots game:
HIV Attacks
What is your most memorable Grassroots moment?
Attending Grassroots graduation in 2011.
What are you doing now?
I have been working in Finance since my Junior year at Georgetown in Investment Banking and Venture Capital. I also have experience in Startups.
What is the biggest lesson you learned in Grassroots and how has it carried over to your job now?
The ability to communicate in a simplified, yet effective manner. The students I worked with in Grassroots were always a lot younger than I was. In order for them to have a better understanding of, as well as interest in, the concepts I was teaching them, strong communication was key. In Finance, when I am looking over a business or a company to invest in and have to explain what they do, I try and explain on the most basic level on how they make money; followed by intricate details about how their product or organization functions.
What advice would you give Grassroots athletes who are getting ready to enter the real world?
You have more skills and character that are more attractive to employers than you realize. Everyday, as a student athlete, you face the same challenges that you will have in the workplace such as time-management, multitasking and execution; however, in some ways in the workplace it is easier because you do not have to push through these challenges as well as the soreness and physical fatigue that you face when you are a full-time student athlete.
The key is to market yourself well to potential employers. I suggest reading this article to Forbes article to help.
Grassroots is quickly approaching its 5 year anniversary – where do you see TGP progressing in another 5 years?
Grassroots will grow outside of the beltway. We have made tremendous progress going into other schools throughout the DC as well as a dedicated staff in order to keep pushing our boundaries further. As a native New Yorker and someone who went to school in the Bronx, I would really like to see Grassroots come to New York City.
