The high school’s Business Department has announced the creation of the Business Department Wall of Fame, which joins three other walls of fame within the building honoring alumni of achievement.
The first inductee, selected by the Business Department faculty is Michael Caravella, a New York equity derivatives and corporate treasury attorney, who was the Class of 2002 valedictorian.
“Our students have gone on to accomplish such wonderful things and we wanted to immortalize that,” said RoseMarie Cricchio, Business Department chair. “We hope our current students can feel inspired by the accomplishments of our alumni.”
Mr. Caravella, who earned his law degree from the New York University School of Law and his summa cum laude undergraduate degree from Fordham University, encouraged students to take at least one business class during their high school tenure.
“Even if you don’t think you’ll ever use it, I promise you will learn things that will be useful at some point later on,” he said. “It may be in your career, but the same concepts often apply in personal finance situations too. Being a better educated financial consumer will definitely help you in life — whether dealing with student loans, buying a car or house, or just budgeting, saving and investing. In hindsight, I probably should have taken more business courses in high school, as I always enjoyed the ones I took. What I liked was that they felt more ‘real world’ than other classes.”
Mr. Caravella also suggested students to join clubs like FBLA because of the value they can have to their future lives.
“I competed in several events, went to the state conference in Rochester twice and even competed at the national level in Nashville and Orlando,” he said. “It really opened my eyes up to a wider world. And I’m still in touch with some of those friends more than 20 years later.”
He offered two pieces of advice.
“The first is ‘learn how to learn,’” said Mr. Caravella. “This one is important because there are entire categories of jobs that exist today that no one had dreamed of when I was in high school. Social media influencer, for example — there was no social media in those days. And looking ahead, artificial intelligence is likely to change the world in profound ways we haven’t fully understood yet. Knowing how to learn, to approach a new and unfamiliar subject from scratch is essential to not only survive but thrive in today’s world.”
The second is a reminder that a person is either “winning or learning.”
“I love this one because it reminds you to take chances,” he added. “If you don’t like it, you still learned something. Or maybe you met someone and expanded your network. And you’d be surprised by how many times something you learned or someone you met in one of those experiences can benefit you in unexpected ways later on. So be curious and take thoughtful risks.”
Principal Kenneth Hauck welcomed this newest wall of fame, which joins a main High School Wall of Fame in addition to walls of fame for wrestling and swimming.
“Walls of fame like this are important because they show our students what they can aspire to with hard work and determination,” he said. “We look forward to recognizing many more alumni who have distinguished themselves with professional success and achievement.”