Jesus Valdez - New York New York Hotel Casino

My story is a little bit unusual. I really strongly believe in building relationships with people and networking with people that really are inspirational to me. And I want to give credit to the dean of the College of Business. Dean Jarley, in his remarks during the Nevada Business Hall of fame dinner, talking about me, provided the opportunity to receive a business card from Cynthia Kiser-Murphey, who is the COO of New York New York. She was present at the event, and it happens to be that she was right across my table. Like in five seconds after he was talking about me, she handed me her business card. And then she told me I want you to follow up with me. I want you to spend some time with my CFO. I wanted to really experience what the role of an internal auditor was. I wanted to know how the odds are played, how the tickets are audited and just learn. It's beautiful, learning is beautiful. Especially in a small property. Given that New York New York is a middle tier property - they have gaming and they have financial as well. So it's kind of like everything together in one. And I was bale to do six weeks in one, six weeks in the other. And I was really exposed to people - to managers, supervisors. People that are really hard working people, very committed. I was the only intern there. I was the youngest. There's people that have been there for 12, 10, 15 years. They were kind of impressed with my drive, and they said you're young and you're really willing to learn, you want to do this. We're here to help you, whatever you need.  When I didn't know something again, I would ask them. They would say this is how you do it. I was able to ask for more responsibility and they saw that. And that was great. At the end when my evaluation came through, they said that was something they looked for students. You have the drive to do it even though it was unpaid, you know. And that really counts. It's all about teamwork. I believe that getting things done, you can't do it yourself. Have to get help from people. My in-charge was the supervisor, the manager and supervisor of the casino audit. She was really helpful. She said anything you need, just ask me. One of the things it took time, to go for coffee. Even though when I was really busy, working on my projects and doing this and doing that. Having to do nrt's  and counting tickets and adding up stuff. I left everything as it was. I was working on it. I went for coffee. And that goes back to building relationships with people. And I think those are really, really crucial when it comes to teamwork. It was an unpaid internship and the reason I'm saying it was unpaid  is because MGM-MIRAGE has paid my school for the last two years. I was on the MGM-MIRAGE family scholarship, and they paid my school for 2007 and 2009. So it was unpaid, but I consider as if it has been prepaid. So it was a way for me to give back. Be self-determined, be opportunity-driven and be willing to contribute, learn. Because that's the only way you're going to get what you want. I want to quote my mentor on this. And she said, it doesn't matter how you do it, how long it takes you. What really matters is your finished product, because that is your reputation.