Brains and Brawn

[Empty Body]

 
After completing his junior year at Harvard University, Nick Gruener interned with Deutsche Bank in New York City for the summer of 2016. About halfway through his internship, he received a call from the Orioles-he had been drafted in the 22nd round of the 2016 draft. Instead of leaving Deutsche Bank halfway through his internship, he chose to finish out his internship, putting his professional baseball career on hold. Not many people can say they've been an Ivy League student, an investment banker in training, and a professional athlete-Gruener has been fortunate enough to have been all three. We sat down with the IronBirds' right hander to talk about all three facets of his life. 
Many of us outside of the Ivy League circle always wonder what the experience is like. What was your experience like attending Harvard?
Going to Harvard in and of itself proved to be a challenge-it was definitely an eye-opener my freshman year. A normal day usually included class from 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., practice from 1:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., and then hitting the library from 9:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. I studied economics, which provided me with an excellent understanding of the nuts and bolts of the United States' economy, as well as its integration into the World economy.
What did you enjoy most about your experience at Harvard?
The most beneficial aspect of Harvard was simply hanging out with my friends who happened to be some of the most brilliant-minded individuals this country, and the world has to offer. I probably have friends from 20-25 different countries - China, Jordan, Madagascar, and Belgium, just to name a few. Spending time with them offered me an incredibly broad and diverse perspective on the world. Their views or beliefs on how to solve some of the world's problems tended to contradict my own, which challenged me to think harder about how these problems might be better solved.
What happened with your internship at Deutsche Bank after being drafted by the Orioles in 2016?
So, it's pretty normal that during your junior year at school you start applying to internships for that following summer. I interviewed with many of the different investment banks in New York and ended up interning on the trading floor of Deutsche Bank. I was a month into the internship when I was lucky enough to be drafted by the Orioles, but this put me into a difficult position. I wanted to have a full-time job offer from the bank in my back pocket for when my baseball career eventually ended, and that was only attainable by completing the internship. At first, the Orioles wanted me to leave New York immediately and come here to Aberdeen. After some long phone calls with the organization, they graciously allowed me to sign a 2017 contract and report to Spring Training the next season, allowing me to finish out my summer in New York.
What's your plan going forward for balancing baseball and your business career?
I finished my senior fall semester last year and took this spring off to come play here in Aberdeen. I will be going back this upcoming fall to graduate and get that degree out of the way. As for future business plans, I'm hoping to work with a wealth management group down in Miami over the off-season. That will allow me to train at home and keep the wheels turning in my head with respect to what's going on in the financial world.
How's living in Aberdeen?
I have the two coolest host parents ever, Terri and David. They are phenomenal and provide Markel (Jones) and I with a mountainous amount of food and snacks in our basement. I've spent many nights talking late into the night with them both about a lot of personal things going on in my life, and they couldn't have been more helpful with helping me clear my head.
What is your favorite thing about being an IronBird?
My favorite thing about being an IronBird is playing in the stadium. My field at Harvard was like a high school field, so coming here and playing in front of such an amazing fan base in a top-notch stadium is the coolest baseball experience I've ever had.