Role players are unsung heroes, creating the foundation for team success.
Rising senior Jackson Monnin has experienced the importance of embracing one's role on a team. Both on the lacrosse field and as a Summer Investment Banking Analyst at Citi, Monnin is a great teammate.
"Playing lacrosse at Lehigh, you definitely understand everyone has a different role within the team," said Monnin. "Here at Citi, it's the same thing. Your role could change two times over the course of a week. You have to be able to adapt and be able to work with the person who sits to your left and to your right, which playing lacrosse has prepared me for."
Growing up in North Carolina, Monnin didn't know much about Lehigh, but lacrosse gave him an opportunity to become a student-athlete at a prestigious university.
"Coach (Kevin) Cassese recruited me and honestly, the decision to come to Lehigh really centered around him," said Monnin. "He's an unbelievable mentor, unbelievable coach and fantastic role model. So, when it came down to making a decision, the ability to play Division I lacrosse at a leading academic school and the ability to play for Coach Cassese was really the icing on the cake and made it a no brainer. I've loved every second."
Monnin was admitted into Lehigh's challenging Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) honors program.
"Coming from Charlotte, I didn't know a ton about Lehigh, but I knew the mascot used to be an engineer," said Monnin. "My dad said if I go to Lehigh, I should study engineering. Then when I got into the IBE program, it was the best of both worlds. Lehigh does an unbelievable job of integrating the two subjects. They have a manageable curriculum every semester. It may be demanding, but it's definitely doable."
Within the IBE program, Monnin eventually declared financial engineering as his major, which is a combination of finance and industrial engineering. It would give him a diverse background that would lead to many career options.
Monnin has three career goals,
but his impact goes far beyond any statistics.
"I initially thought I would be much more interested in engineering," said Monnin. "About a year in, I realized I was more business than engineering-minded, so financial engineering allowed me to combine both curriculums. Around 60 percent of my classes are finance related, or business."
Last summer, heading into his junior year, Monnin secured an engineering-focused internship.
"I worked for United Technologies. Specifically, I worked at Carrier who does commercial, HVAC systems," he said. "I spent a lot of time on the floor, understanding the process of getting two tons of steel from a warehouse far away, to Kansas City, and then to the factory in Charlotte. It was a lot of logistics and organization, very supply-chain oriented. I definitely enjoyed my experience, but it helped confirm that I am more interested in finance."
That led to this summer and Monnin's internship as summer analyst in Citi's Investment Banking Healthcare Group, which has opened his eyes to the business world.
"For the first three days, I learned about different companies I didn't know anything about," he said. "One of them was a biotechnology company, another was a big conglomerate of hospitals and health services, and the third was a health insurance company. I read about all these different industries and all these companies as if preparing for an exam or lacrosse game."
The summer at Citi has featured individual work, but also plenty of teamwork.
"All the interns sit next to each other," said Monnin. "I may have done something that the person right next to me hasn't, or vice versa. There is a huge team aspect to the internship, which ties in so well with my lacrosse history.
"There's a whole hierarchy and you're at the bottom," Monnin continued. "If the person above me (a full time analyst) gets a task, he may give an intern a fraction of it. It could be a deal pitch to a client or financial modeling where we're trying to forecast if a certain company is potentially a good investment for our client. Other times, it could be a lot of nitty gritty, attention to details, things like making sure something gets approved and is sent to the right person."
If the interns' support wasn't there and those little tasks weren't completed well this summer, the transaction Citi is working on for its client may lose momentum. On the lacrosse field, if Monnin doesn't push his teammates in practice, they wouldn't be prepared for games.
"On the field, my role has largely been similar," said Monnin. "I'm primarily an offensive player and have had some opportunities and tried to make the most of them, but a lot of my job is just to be supportive. I want to make sure that in practice, I'm preparing myself for the upcoming opponent and also getting the other guys ready too. During the week, I'm trying to set a good example and making sure we're getting done everything we need."
Monnin the lacrosse player is helping Monnin the summer analyst and on the flip side, his summer at Citi will invariably help him in many areas moving forward.
"I'm incredibly lucky to have this Lehigh Lacrosse experience because it's definitely made me a better team player," said Monnin. "In high school, like everyone who goes on to play college lacrosse, it was easy to lead because you were always a strong player. But when you arrive at college, you start out as a junior guy again and if you're not a starter all the time, you have to find opportunities to be supportive. You want to be a benefit and not a distraction."
"Jackson works really hard, on and off the field," said rising senior Matt Rimol. "He always does what is asked of him. He goes really hard in practice and he has made me better personally, as well as everyone around him."
Monnin has set a good example in multiple areas of his life, embracing every role he has been tasked. In the classroom, he owns a 3.60 cumulative GPA. Monnin doesn't know exactly what he wants to do post-graduation, but is narrowing his possibilities.
"I've really enjoyed my time here at Citi and could foresee myself in a similar role after graduation," said Monnin. "I'm enjoying finance. I'm really enjoying investment banking at Citi, which includes working with several Lehigh alumni."
Whether Citi is in his future or another opportunity, Monnin is destined for success. With his diverse background academically and athletically, and his contributions towards team success, Monnin will be a valuable asset to his future company.
"Jackson always brings outstanding energy to the locker room, to practice and to any team event we have," said Coach Cassese. "He takes great pride in helping those around him become better and in the process, helping himself become better as well. Jackson is also one of our top performers in the classroom. He has always been extremely focused in that area and has set a high example for his teammates to follow towards academic and professional success."
