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One day, when Colin Kelley '12 was an eighth grader at Hampton Middle School in New Hampshire, his mom gave him a tip about a job opportunity opening up at her place of business, Fisher Scientific, a Hampton-based, healthcare equipment maker.

After school on the following week, Kelley the younger went to Fisher and began the first and only job he would ever have during all the years leading up to his graduation from high school. He became a shoeshine boy for some 200 corporate executives as they bought and sold companies or lunched in their capacious offices.

鈥淭he money was good,鈥� recalls Kelley with smile. 鈥淏ut even more important was the way they mentored me.鈥�

They talked to him about deals鈥攂ig deals鈥攁nd how, in the end, business is all about relationships. But what Kelley recalls most clearly is the way they behaved, day to day. 鈥淭hey loved what they did,鈥� avers Kelley. 鈥淎nd I wanted to be like them.鈥�

It鈥檚 safe to say he鈥檚 on his way. A finance and international affairs dual major, Kelley made what he calls his 鈥渟econd great decision鈥� of his life鈥攖aking the shoeshine job was the first鈥攁nd joined the Whittemore School鈥檚 (now Paul College) student-run Atkins Investment Group as a sophomore. The Atkins Group is a 35-student strong company-within-a-business school that manages a real stock portfolio called the Wildcat Fund. It鈥檚 competitive to get into the group whose members take pride in regularly besting the S&P 500.

As a member, Kelley advanced from stock analyst to portfolio manager and, finally, to president. As president, the quondam 鈥渟hy math geek鈥� came out of his shell to polish his communication skills and hone a personal leadership style. 鈥淚 think people perform better when they like what they鈥檙e doing,鈥� avers President Kelley. 鈥淚 try to match people up with sectors that interest them.鈥�

As Atkins president, he became a game changer when he began partnering with Dean Daniel Innis to raise private funding for the group. Doing so will 鈥渆nable more students to enjoy the Atkins experience, increase our portfolio, provide access to better research, and reduce our transaction charges,鈥� Kelley explains.

To date, they have increased their portfolio from $50,000 to more than $100,000 by pitching their ideas to heavy-hitting alums. While Kelley hopes the group will eventually increase the pot to the 鈥渟everal hundreds of thousands range,鈥� he is satisfied to have helped move the Wildcat Fund to 鈥渢he same ballgame as other student-run funds around the country.鈥�

As Kelly looks toward graduation in May, he has reason to be optimistic. The company where he鈥檒l work鈥攖he Portsmouth office of the investment management firm Prime Buchholz鈥攅mployed him as an intern during the past two years, providing valuable experience for a time when Kelly sees himself 鈥渂reaking through the Ivied ranks鈥� of the high-end investment management or private equity fields鈥攎aybe in New York and just to prove to himself he can do it.

With a job lined up at Prime Buchholz, he鈥檒l finish out a productive 91制片厂 career rooming in Hetzel Hall with his kid brother Robert, a first-year computer engineering major, and doing what he鈥檚 always done. Thinking big.

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