Kelechi Onyia
Wharton ’28
Finance
GRIP: FinTech in Medellin, Colombia
Contact
Ask Me About…
I am not a native Spanish-speaker, nor have I taken classes of the language here at Penn. However, I learned Spanish for 3 years in high school and really enjoyed practicing my fluency. I am also from New York City, which is a very diverse city, and I had so many Hispanic friends growing up, some of which were Colombian-Americans. So, I’m not completely new to the Spanish language or Hispanic culture.
Being that GRIP would be my first opportunity to go abroad to another country other than my parents’, Nigeria, I was very interested in going to Colombia because I wanted to immerse myself in a language and culture that was not my own and develop strong communication skills. It was honestly a curiosity of Colombian culture, dedication for an internship in finance, and hearing positive things from friends that made me want to do an internship there.
My Experience Abroad
I’m a student at Wharton, studying Finance and minoring in Computation Cognitive Science, recruiting for Investment Banking. I’ve been drawn to researching different companies’ all around the world and following their financial performance. Specifically, the telecom, media, and consumer industry as I find their product offerings the most interesting.
I have also recently became the Co-President for BlackGen Capital, a national student-led minority investment fund, in which this organization introduces financial knowledge and opportunities to freshmen and sophomore students from underrepresented backgrounds in the field. I started off as an analyst, then a sector lead, then the VP of Finance, and now I am the Co-President. So I honestly can’t wait for next semester, as I have plans for so many changes and new initiatives for this cohort.
Lastly, I’m apart of WAVe, West African Vibe, the African dance team at Penn. I choreograph and am also the external liaison for this team, handling gigs we have with other orgs in and outside of Penn (our biggest event was performing for the Nigerian Independence Day festival here in Philly with over 400 people in attendance). I also thought it was important and necessary to engage myself in something fun and collaborative like dancing on a team, as juggling school work can get tough.
Other Highlights
1: Eating Lunch with My Coworkers
In Colombia, I realized that the people there are so hospitable and social. My coworkers insisted on buying me lunch or desserts the first days at work so we could get to know each other well, and I was able to try common Colombian cuisines. I did make sure that I would cover my own meals, and I still looked forward to talking with them all during lunch and stroll around the mall after. Getting to know them was really interesting, and it opened my narrative, hearing the differences in both of our lives.
2: Taking a Salsa/Bachata class
I took one or two salsa/bachata classes with the rest of the Penn cohort and it was hilarious and fun. The instructor literally started calling us out for being so bad, but we laughed it off and tried our best. I, on the other hand, wanted to improve in bachata so I signed up for the weekly classes with a couple of other students interning in Colombia (in and outside of Penn). I really enjoyed going to it because I got to practice partner-dancing which I’ve never done on WAVe and with a different genre of music.
3: Communa Trece Tour
Communa Trece is a famous community in Medellin, Colombia, and we were really excited to visit it as we wanted to experience all the different landmarks of Colombia. It was really tourist-y and packed, but it was a nice place to buy souvenirs and food, and listen to Colombian street music.
4: Cartagena
Although this wasn’t under the Penn Abroad programming, almost all of the Penn students and some of the other students doing the program flew out to Cartagena, the vacation/beach area of Colombia. We planned for a lot of different areas to go to, places to party at, beaches to tan on, and restaurants to eat at in the 4 days we had for our 4 day weekend. It was the best time, and really valued the experience we had there.
