Patrick Lively: Prepped for Life

by Joe McGasko

It’s been said that life is like a game of baseball—you step up to the plate, take what life throws your way and, if you’ve trained well, occasionally you might hit one out of the park.

Patrick Lively is well on his way to that home run. A senior at Adelphi, he is already on a major league path toward a career in business that he has been preparing for since he was young.

“I always had a passion for business,” he says. “When I was in high school, I was pretty good at math. But, for some reason, putting a dollar sign in front of the numbers made figuring out problems so much easier. When I started at Adelphi, that carried over right away.”

Lively’s interest in finance led to an internship this past summer that showed him how to turn his passion into practice. From June through August, he worked 40-hour weeks at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, a highly respected brokerage firm.

“Working there really sparked my interest and put it through the roof. It was a lot of work, but it was very rewarding.”

Lively credits Adelphi’s Center for Career Development with helping him acquire the skills that made securing the internship possible.

“I first got involved in the program through [Thomas J. Ward Jr., executive director of the Center for Career Development], my business communications teacher,” he says. “I also took the Internship Preparation Seminar, which taught me how to excel at interviews. The career center helped me look at my résumé and format it a better way.”

Once he had secured his internship, Lively also found it rewarding in ways that he didn’t anticipate.

“There was one client who had medical issues. He was going for major surgery and wasn’t sure if he was going to make it. We were able to grow his account to help pay the bills and take care of his family. While doctors were operating on his physical life, we helped his fiscal life.

“That’s how it became real to me that finance is not just about making money for yourself, but it’s also for helping those less fortunate than you. That’s really where the passion is for me.”

Lively’s other passion, one that he shares with Ward, is baseball. He coaches teenagers at a baseball training center part time.

“I love the game of baseball,” he says. “And any way I can give back to youth and help develop their game is rewarding for me.”

Lively sees many possibilities in his future, from getting an M.B.A. to attending law school. He’s already on schedule to graduate from Adelphi a year early. His priorities are simple—work hard and follow his passions.

“For me, the key to success is to do something you love, whether it’s baseball or finance. I have a strong passion for both of them, so, hopefully, if I can keep on track like that in the future, I’ll have a pretty successful life.”