By Henry Okaro
What I call the “MSF Study-Life Balance” refers to how I maintain a harmonious relationship between my studies and personal life in the Master of Science in Finance (MSF) program at UB. It involves consciously managing my time and energy to meet both academic and personal commitments while prioritizing self-care and well-being.
As a student, I am interested in my coursework and all the resources that are available to me at the University at Buffalo. At the start of my program, I was overwhelmed by the number of free resources available to UB students. It was challenging to keep track of them all.
Below are some resources that I have used since joining UB. It will guide you on what benefits you can enjoy as a UB student, extracurricular activities and services that enable you to have a successful graduate school experience.
Bloomberg Terminals
The Bloomberg Terminals are one of the crown jewels of the UB School of Management. It is a computer software system that enables students and professionals in the financial service sector to access Bloomberg Professional Services to monitor and analyze real-time financial market data and place trades on the electronic trading platform. There are 10 Bloomberg Terminals in the School of Management that are used mostly by students in the MS in Finance program. The terminal can only be accessed in person and not virtually. Reservations are made on the SOM website for unlimited hours based on availability.
Level Up Console Gaming Lounge
Located across from the Lockwood Library on North Campus, the Level Up Console Gaming Lounge offers every kind of video games that you can think of. I believe in creating a balance between my studies and leisure and Level Up provides me with that needed space and time to take a break from my studies and recharge with fun activities. The video game hall has 8 pods that can seat about four students at a time. They have Play Station 5 and XBOX connected to a large screen to serve different preferences. Students are allowed a maximum session of two hours per day. There is another hall that provides access to computer adventure games. Bookings are made on the UB Navigate 360 portal and it is entirely free for UB students.
Handshake
This is an online service platform that makes it easy for UB students and alumni to connect with employers. The platform offers opportunities for on-campus jobs, internships and full-time employment. Do not wait until you are in school to start applying for on-campus jobs. I made the mistake of waiting until I got here to start looking for vacancies, and most of them were already filled before I started applying. The same applies to internships. For instance, if you are admitted for Fall 2024, you are eligible to participate in the 2025 summer internship program. Advertisements for some of these internship programs are already published in January 2024 while you are still deliberating on your choice of institution. My advice is to make your admission decision quickly and get started on these activities. Other platforms outside of UB also provide information on internships and you need to provide an update on your educational program when applying.
WEPA
This is a web and mobile-based platform. You can access it using your UBIT login details. This application makes printing documents easy for students. Every semester, all UB students get about $32 on their account for printing on campus. One can find printers throughout campus. For convenience, you can integrate your WEPA account with any repository (Google Drive or OneDrive) and schedule your printing needs from anywhere. To print, you can either access your account directly on the printer, use the wireless function to sync the printer with your phone, or swipe your UB Card in the space provided on the printer. You can use the “Find Nearest Print Station” on the WEPA platform to identify the closest and most suitable place to print.
Gyms and Swimming Pool
I will not bore you with how important exercise and daily workouts are to living a healthy life. However, it will be interesting to note that UB has a fully equipped functional gym on all campuses. It costs $27 per semester to use the gym and the swimming pool if you are a graduate student. This is cheaper than the average monthly subscription fees for most gyms across Western New York. There are three semesters (Spring, Summer, Fall) in a calendar year; so, if you will be using this service all year round, you can budget appropriately for it. I occasionally make use of the facilities on North Campus where you can find the gym and pool in Alumni Arena.
Libraries
There are multiple libraries at the University at Buffalo. The largest, Lockwood and Silverman Libraries, are on North Campus while the Abbott Library is on South Campus, and there are some school-specific libraries too. The libraries offer conducive spaces for both personal and group studies. They also have private rooms that can be reserved for group activities. Reservations are made on the school website. Like Level Up, each student is allowed a maximum of two hours per room per day for the library’s private rooms. Once a reservation is made, you will receive an email to confirm the booking with the details of the room and time. The libraries have quiet, serene spaces and open halls for group discussions to suit students’ needs.
Pulse
This mobile application allows students to access the class materials uploaded on Brightspace, UB’s online learning management system. It is an important tool in my everyday life and allows me to stay connected with my study materials anytime and anywhere. All registered coursework and related activities are visualized on the platform. Course content can be reviewed offline while you are out of data connection. You can set up push notifications on the platform to stay up to date on announcements, quizzes, grades, assignments and activity feeds.
Microsoft 365
This is a collection of powerful productivity apps for work and study that you can use across multiple devices. This subscription service is free to current UB students and can be unlocked using your UB email details. It makes it easier for students to collaborate with other students and faculty on projects by sharing real-time access to specific documents within a single repository. The popular apps that can be accessed using the Microsoft 365 system are Bookings, Calendar, Excel, Forms, OneDrive, Outlook, Power BI, PowerPoint, Teams and Word.
Amazon Prime
All students enjoy a six-month free Prime subscription when they register using their student email account. With a Prime subscription, you get access to Prime videos and other benefits on the Amazon platform such as free and on-time delivery for Prime member-designated products.
Vmock
Vmock is a resume-building tool that is free and available to all students. It is an AI-driven platform offering students essential resources to assist with resume creation and career planning. The first time I used Vmock I was amazed at the detailed report it generates in a few seconds. Resumes are assessed based on their overall impact, presentation and competencies as stated within the resume. Students are given 10 free reviews per session. This tool is like most AI resume review software and application tracking systems (ATS) that are used by recruiters. Ensure you pay attention to details when using Vmock so that you do not exhaust your free reviews.
Other Tools
Other tools exist that I was not able to cover in this article. However, they are equally very important and offer free or premium subscriptions to UB students.
1. Zoom
2. Corq
3. Copilot
4. TransLoc
5. Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
6. Coursera
Bio: Henry was born and raised in Nigeria. He was a science major and earned an undergraduate degree in Geological Sciences at Nnamdi Azikiwe University. He worked in a tech consulting firm, Dragnet Solutions Limited, for 10+ years where he managed solutions geared towards screening and selection of candidates for different educational and corporate services. He became more interested in business development and entrepreneurship, inspiring him to earn an MBA at the University of Lagos where he majored in marketing. He co-founded and worked on few startups that bordered around business advisory, talent sourcing, tech-based solutions, travels and tours, social event management, games creation and logistics. With a deeper understanding of the limitations of some of the ventures he worked on in the past, Henry was motivated to pursue a Master of Science in Finance at UB in the Financial Risk Management & Fintech Track. He loves to socialize, go on trips, meet new people and learn about different backgrounds. This helps him to focus and channel his energy properly into his career and academic pursuit.