Looking back over his nearly four-year UVM career, Long Island native Sean Breen couldn’t have anticipated where his academic journey would lead. But as he prepares to graduate in May with dual majors in environmental sciences and economics, he’s in an enviable position: he’s interviewing with three tech companies, two banks and a venture capital firm.

Naturally curious and personable, Breen says his UVM experience was “all about making connections with people, and connecting ideas from different disciplines.”

As a high school senior, Breen was set on going to another college in upstate New York where several family members had attended. But there were these persistent mailings from UVM, inviting him to apply for early admission.

Breen had visited Burlington on a family vacation a few years earlier and was intrigued. He finally decided to send in his application—UVM was the last school he applied to and the first one he heard back from. After receiving early admission, he visited UVM on Accepted Students Day and knew his search was over.

“My focus totally shifted to UVM,” he said. “The grants and scholarships I got here made it a no brainer. I also fell in love with Burlington. It’s not a big city, but there’s an intensity of things going on here.”

Originally enrolled as an environmental science major, Breen gravitated to the economics courses he was taking in the College of Arts and Sciences. With help from his advisor, he fashioned a double-major in environmental chemistry and economics, giving him the flexibility to take language and literature courses not directly related to his major.

“I wanted to cast a wide net to explore what’s out there,” he said. “Because I’ve tried so many things, I feel more certain about my choices of major and career direction.”

In search of an internship his junior year, economics professor Dr. Jane Knodell put him touch with the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA), a quasi-governmental organization in Montpelier that makes small businesses loans to Vermont enterprises.

Breen spent one day a week in Montpelier developing a database and analytic tools for VEDA’s growing commercial solar energy portfolio. That experience led him to another internship at a small venture capital firm in Chevy Chase, Md. It wasn’t a “run out for donuts and coffee” kind of deal—he was given real opportunities to apply his skills. He also tapped into his colleagues’ professional network in the Washington D.C. area.

“All of my interviews came from D.C. area businesses through contacts I developed there,” he said.

Breen continually found new mentors in unexpected places. One day he noticed the name Thomas Sullivan cited in the footnote of an article he was reading on antitrust law. Soon afterwards, following a panel on which Sullivan presented, Breen approached the UVM president and asked if he was the author cited in the article. Impressed, Sullivan, who has written for numerous law journals including the one Breen read, invited him in for a meeting. The two have met several times since to discuss the university and Breen’s future plans.

“Getting to know the university president as a mentor—that’s pretty cool,” Breen says. “I don’t think that would happen in a lot of places.”

While he isn’t certain what path he chooses next, he knows he’s moving in the right direction. 

“The more I learn the less I know—not looking necessarily for the best compensation. I want to work with people who genuinely want to teach me and learn with me.”