TLLF Intern Spotlight | Aiden Curry: When Plans Change, Possibilities Open

Aiden Curry, recent Queens University of Charlotte graduate and former intern for The Leon Levine Foundation, is no stranger to unexpected changes in plans. In fact, he welcomes the challenge, which he finds often leads to opportunities he couldn’t have anticipated.

Aiden came to Queens as a scholarship athlete on the wrestling team. ACL surgery sidelined him during his freshman season, and again exactly a year later in his sophomore season. Come junior year, when he was ready to compete again, the wrestling program was cut. So, Aiden joined the rugby team and played for two years, earning a trip to the national championship during one of them.

“Turns out, I’m much better suited to rugby,” Aiden said. “I had no idea until circumstances prompted me to give it a try!”

Similarly, Aiden applied for the internship with The Leon Levine Foundation as a freshman, but wasn’t selected. Same thing his sophomore year. When junior year rolled around, he applied again “mostly out of spite,” he said. “But then I got it and it set the trajectory of my career.”

A finance major, he had taken only two accounting classes during his freshman year and hardly recalled what he’d learned. Then, over the summer before his senior year, he found himself drinking from a firehose when it came to taxes.

“For three months, it was tax, tax, tax,” he said. “I learned more than I could have imagined, and it actually set me up for roles I hadn’t yet considered.”

After the tax-filing deadline last September, Aiden transitioned to day-to-day accounting operations, what he calls “the meat and potatoes of what it means to be in accounting.”

“I got to work on two different projects,” he said. “It was such a great opportunity to figure out how to do it, spread my wings, and see what I was capable of.”

He’s especially proud of two software applications he created. “To have the trust of the team and collaborate with various teams was so constructive,” he said. “I got to make an actual change for the organization, and that is a super unique opportunity most interns don’t get.”

The most meaningful part of his experience was connecting the dots between the work he did and the impact it made in the broader community.

“At The Leon Levine Foundation, the sole mission is to help Carolinians,” he said. “Accounting operates behind the scenes, but our work helps make the broader work happen. Accounting is an enabler within an organization. One of the best things about working with the Foundation was being able to show up and see the impact. I can drive around Charlotte and see why it matters. I can proudly wear this brand.”

Reflecting on his internship, Aiden calls it pivotal. Soon, he’ll start a full-time role with property investment firm Asana Partners. There, he will get to see the flipside of what he worked on with the Foundation.

“This will be a glimpse into the creation and management of the investment vehicles, whereas a lot of my work in the internship had to do with the investor side,” he said. “Without a doubt, the experience I gained with the Foundation directly enabled me to land this role.”

In his free time, Aiden plans to take up ultramarathons and triathlons. And he’s open to whatever opportunities that unexpected changes in plans open for him down the road.