The Stern Opportunity

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, the Office of Alumni Relations & Development is pleased to present the fourth annual installment of “Stern Sweethearts”- a profile of couples who met during their time here at Stern. As these stories demonstrate, you never know when or where Cupid’s arrow will strike! You may be in homeroom, at a beer blast, orientation or spring break, and low and behold- your Stern Sweetheart may be sitting right next to you.

Juliana de Faria (MBA ’02) and Peter Gallagher (MBA ’03)

As told by Juliana: Peter and I met at an NYU Stern Beer Blast in late September 2001. It was a sad time in the City and on campus. Morale was understandably struggling, so that Beer Blast was sparsely attended. A few friends and I had decided to "fight back" by building friendships and camaraderie among the students. In New York City form, we decided to throw a ''Sex and the City'' party after the Beer Blast. While I was spreading the word about the party, Pete crossed the room with a big smile and introduced himself. We started to chat and, after a few minutes, I gave him one of my (what-to-do-with-these-hundreds-of) Stern business cards, with the party address written on the back.

I didn´t really expect him to show up at the party, but there he was. It turns out that he and his old Navy friend, Won, had actually debated at the door of the taxi whether to come! Something Pete said ultimately convinced the two of them to get in the cab. The following day we met again by chance during Pete's class event at Lincoln Center. A few days later we had our first date in the back garden of a cozy Italian restaurant on 1st Avenue (Brunetta's, which we returned to every year until it closed). Later that year I earned my merit badge when we hiked the Inca Trail with Stern friends during Spring Break - Pete was a big hiker, but that was my first time in a tent!

In 2005 we invited our family and several Stern friends to our wedding in my hometown, Rio de Janeiro. Our shared love of things Brazilian continued in 2009, when both of our companies invited us to transfer to São Paulo. We laugh a lot about that first night we met in the Sosnoff Lounge, and think about what would have happened if Pete and Won hadn't jumped in the cab. But as Pete remembers from a Pre-Term lecture, it was just a matter of statistics that two of us would find our ''special someone'' before we graduated from Stern! Thanks for all of the happy memories.

Barry Meinerth (MBA ’70) and Marcia Mulzac Meinerth (MBA ’70)

As told by Marcia: GBA, an international marketing class, a Massachusetts accent, a portable typewriter, the “Pineapple Princess” prediction, go-go boots, and a hamburger at George's.

 GBA, that's what we called the Stern School of Business in 1969. We were fortunate enough to be full- time students at a time when everyone carried box-like briefcases, portable typewriters, and loose change to make phone calls from public phone booths (the same place where Superman could always slip into a change of clothing)!

Two of the classes we had in common were led by Professors Kavesh and Kapor and often full of international students. As an undergraduate Spanish major, I was always intrigued by the accents of fellow classmates. But then there was Barry's accent. Upon inquiring as to what country he was from, he proudly replied "the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!" Barry admits to being smitten with the young lady from New York and invited me to George's (we called it a restaurant then) for a wonderfully grilled greasy hamburger. On top of that he was always willing to help carry my portable typewriter to the car where my sister, the “Pineapple Princess” would be waiting to drive me home. Amazed at how many young men would exit the building, she could not understand why I did not have a boyfriend. I told her I was at school for a MBA not a MRS. “That may be so,” she said, “but that guy (the one carrying the typewriter) really likes you.” I did not even know his last name, and upon hearing it I wrote it down as Miner.

The Pineapple Princess, however, loved fantasy (having fashioned herself after the princess in the Dole commercial some 50 years ago) and was right in her prediction.

Two years after graduation, Massachusetts aligned with New York and we were married in October 1972, with Deans Dill and Taggart plus several of our professors in attendance! No doubt you are wondering about the go-go boots...well, Barry says I wore them, and I am not so sure I really want to admit to that. But that's love for you...a lot of fantasy and a little bit of reality.

Laura Kuperman (MBA ’02) and Eric Brenden (MBA ’02)

As told by Laura: Eric and I met in our "homeroom," Block 5, at the very beginning of our years at Stern: August 2000. His quick smile caught my eye and he liked how I tied my hair up with a pencil during accounting! As that year progressed he and I hung out more, but I had a boyfriend back in Washington where I lived before attending Stern. Eric had been helping me with my accounting (guess I hadn't paid THAT much attention) and planned on taking the EMA trip to Argentina and Brazil that I was organizing with some classmates.

We got to know each other even better on the trip, and I guess I thought he was the one, even before I realized it myself, as I introduced him to some of my Argentine relatives down there. We danced the night away in Rio and were pretty inseparable from that night on! Needless to say, the Washington guy was out of the picture when we got back to New York and we got engaged the December after we graduated in 2002.

We were married in Cape May, NJ, on the beach in May 2004, and lived in Manhattan until last summer when we bought our house in Maplewood and returned to the Garden State. Our daughter, Eliana Grace, was born September 25, 2005, and our son, Zachary Curtis, was born just 2 years later on October 29, 2007. I have sung and danced, Eric has learned guitar and stand-up, and I'm now working part-time as a music teacher and home with our kids, while he is a reporting and analysis VP/guru at Goldman Sachs. Whirlwind and wonderful, we are still enjoying being Stern Sweethearts.

Lisa Campagne (MBA ’01) and Chad Beaupierre (MBA ’03)

As told by Lisa: I graduated Stern in May 2001 and Chad started in September 2001, so we were never actually in class together. However we had met quite a few times since we were both part of the Consortium for the Graduate Study in Management and the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS). Since we only saw each other during events where alums were included, it made it difficult to get to know Chad. However, I had this compelling urge to figure out a way to get to know him better and developed quite a serious “crush.”

The months leading up to our first non-NYU related meeting were some of the most stressful for each of us. Since 9/11 occurred only weeks into the MBA program, Chad was spending time staying focused and getting acclimated. I worked at American Express and our building was badly damaged, so I was trekking out to Parsippany, NJ, (two hours each way from my apartment in Brooklyn) where we were temporarily relocated.

To add to everything else, in January 2002, my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was given a few months to live. During this very difficult time in my life, I found it necessary to take one night out of every week to spend doing something completely unrelated to my father’s illness. It was the only way for me to survive.

On one of those nights in February, I was out at a NYC bar with a friend when Chad walked in with a few of his friends. To my surprise, when he saw me he came and sat down. We ended up talking for quite some time and I am not sure if was the martinis or the fact that my life was in complete uproar but I suggested getting together sometime and specifically stated “without the whole Stern crew” to imply that it was more of a date.

It took about a month to actually hang out together. My father had taken a turn for the worse so it was impossible to find free time. He passed away on March 14, 2002. Our first date was on March 30, 2002. Chad and I were engaged January 1, 2006, and married January 28, 2007. Our son, Mason Felix Beaupierre, was born October 7, 2008.

Brian Oravec (MBA ’04) and Aisha Wagle (MBA ’04)

As told by Aisha: Brian and I both applied late to Stern- I was only admitted a month prior to classes beginning. We were both placed in Block 2 and met initially during Pre-Term activities where I recall thinking that he was a great dancer- boy was I fooled. We worked together in a number of classes over our time at Stern, drank a lot of beer, laughed together a lot, and truth be told, probably flirted too but we were both otherwise occupied until the end of our time at Stern.

We became particularly close when I produced the 2004 Stern Follies with Chris Schaefer, who also happened to be Brian's roommate. We had both planned to travel after school before going back to work and, newly single, decided to hit the road together. After six weeks in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and India we discovered that we shared a passion for travel, business, and adventure and we have never looked back.
 
We were married in 2007 by our good friend and block mate Chris Schaefer (MBA '04) and welcomed our first child, Haven Bombay Oravec, in 2008. After several years of working with established firms like Citibank, Goldman Sachs, and Booz & Company in the US, we are happily living in Mumbai, India, where Brian is the CEO and Managing Director of Realterm FCH, a real estate fund which he founded, and I am thoroughly enjoying taking time with our daughter - finally, a job that does not include 100% travel! We recently reconnected with several of our classmates and fellow alum here in Mumbai and continue to employ all the skills we learned at Stern.

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Office of Alumni Relations!
Best wishes to these and all the other Stern Sweethearts out there! If you know a Stern Sweethearts couple who would like to tell their story, please contact Keith Layton in the Office of Alumni Relations & Development at klayton@stern.nyu.edu.

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