Alum of the Month

Meredith & Benjamin Wells

November 2010

London Program

August 2006 Intake

What and where did you study before your Mountbatten internship?
(Meredith - MGW) I graduated from Wake Forest University in May 2006 and received a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Spanish. While in college, I studied abroad for a semester in Salamanca, Spain and attended the Universidad de Salamanca.
(Ben - BBW) I graduated from Dickinson College in May 2006 and received a Bachelor’s degree in History. While in college, I studied abroad for a full academic year in Norwich, England and attended the University of East Anglia.
We both applied to the Mountbatten Programme the summer we graduated and were accepted into the August 2006 intake.

What made you apply for the Mountbatten Programme?
(MGW) One of my good friends from Wake Forest was in the August 2005 Mountbatten intake and highly recommended the programme to me. She knew I was interested in international business and thought the programme would be a strong building block for my career.
(BBW) I knew that I eventually wanted to have a career in finance and that one of the best places in the world to gain experience was London. When I received an email from the College Career Center about the Mountbatten Programme, I knew it sounded like a great way to gain the experience I was looking for.

Describe your sponsor company and your role within it.
(MGW) Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer – International Secondments Assistant.In this role, I advised key clients on relocation matters arising in connection with international assignments and transfers.
(BBW) UBS Investment Bank – Fixed Income Reconciliation

What was the highlight/most memorable moment of your working experience during this year?
Working on international teams – the collaboration of ideas from co-workers who came from such diverse backgrounds was incredibly stimulating and refreshing. We also really appreciated the variety of responsibilities and experience our internships presented us with.

What was the social highlight/most memorable moment during this year?
Meeting each other (of course – haha!) and also a week long sailing trip through the Greek islands with 8 other Mountbattens.

For all the romantics out there, could you describe in a little more detail just how you got together?
We met during an icebreaker on the first day of orientation. We were all given name tags where we had to go and find the person whose name we had. I (Meredith) had Ben’s name…and was probably one of the last people to track down “my person”. Of course, he was the cute guy with the “preppy” clothes I had noticed earlier that morning. As luck would have it, Ben was moved into Jerome house in the flat next to me a few weeks later….and the rest is history

Please share a little wisdom/philosophy that you acquired during your internship
Take advantage of every opportunity presented to you in your internship. Ask questions….lots of questions. Partake in the weekly Thursday drinks with your teams and build relationships with your co-workers outside of the office. Ben and I both still keep in touch with several of our co-workers from our internships. Soak up as much as possible. Travel….travel…travel.

If you could change anything about your internship, what would it be?
Nothing.

What happened after completing the year - what did you do next?
(MGW) Ben and I both contacted companies back in the US while we were nearing the end of our internship in London and we started interviewing for positions back in Baltimore, Maryland. We both accepted positions with companies in Baltimore less than a month after returning to the United States.
In October 2009, Ben proposed. We recently got married (August 14, 2010) at Wake Forest University, Wait Chapel, in North Carolina. It was a proper southern wedding and several Mountbattens, who we became close friends with during our year in London, were in attendance.

Where are you now in your working life and what do you do?
(MGW) I work for GKV, a large mid-Atlantic Advertising agency headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. I am an account manager for several key agency accounts as well as work with the Agency partners on new business initiatives.
(BBW) I work for UBS in Baltimore as a Registered Client Service Associated for a Fixed Income Sales Team.

Do you have any future plans that you would like to realise & what are they (career & social)?
Ben and I both plan to begin applying to MBA programs in the coming year.
*SUPER long term plans….start a family :)