If Maya Suresh continues the way she's going, we can all feel better about the future of the banking industry.

Suresh, a senior at the Carlson School, is currently in her second internship with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis - something she hopes will lead to fulltime employment with the organization. But a career as a regulator wasn't what Suresh had in mind when the Vadnais Heights, Minn. native arrived on campus.

"I always thought as a freshman I would go through the typical business route: work for a Fortune 500 company and eventually get my MBA," said Suresh. "I thought I would end up becoming a financial analyst at a firm, but I am really grateful and pleasantly surprised at the variety of pathways I can go with a finance major."

Variety is a good description of her resume. Suresh spent a summer with Target Corporation as a risk management financial analyst and the following spring interning at Fedeto, a business federation in Toledo, Spain where she connected small Spanish companies with international trading partners.

"I worked primarily with Spanish-English translation of documents, but the exposure to the business opened up my eyes to new areas of business that I want to get involved with," she added.

As a result of her time in Spain, and her stints with the Federal Reserve that followed where she examined banks to ensure that they are in compliance with certain regulations; Suresh has charted a new career path - one that doesn't involve working for a big firm.

Instead, Suresh would like to continue in a regulatory role focusing on the banking industry before eventually making her way into the international realm where she hopes to help U.S. companies expand overseas by ensuring that they are in compliance with the host country's laws and regulations.

To reach her goal, Suresh plans to someday attend law school and obtain a concentration in international business law. She's already laying the foundation for such a move by working for the UCLA Undergraduate Law Journal.

"I saw the advertisement for it in the pre-law listerv decided to apply," said Suresh. "I thought it would be a great opportunity to improve my research and writing skills in preparation for writing my honors thesis."

After reviewing her writing samples, UCLA selected Suresh and she went on to pen an article on alternative energy legislation and its impacts on the community. That experience, like so many of Suresh's, allowed her to broaden her horizons and recognize that a finance major's analytical abilities have far broader applications than she first imagined.

"While I do not consider myself on the typical 'business' path anymore, I am grateful for the skills it has equipped me with," said Suresh. "Because without those skills and exposure to business I would not be where I am today."