On Sunday, May 21st, Sheila and I attended commencement exercises for the Law School at the University of Virginia. We are pictured with our son, Frederick Joseph Baerenz, who received his Juris Doctorate degree. We are so proud of him achieving this new milestone! Sheila and I enjoyed the long weekend in Charlottesville reminiscing about our own time at UVA.

We visited Monticello, and enjoyed laughter and meals at the C&O Restaurant, Boars Head Inn and Hamilton’s.  We had the opportunity to visit with several of Joe’s professors, many classmates and their families.  It was a wonderful weekend! Joe will sit for the New York State Bar Exam at the end of July, and is already “cramming” for the test.  Whether he works for a law firm in New York, or returns to the SEC in Washington, passing the bar in New York will allow him to “waive in” to almost any other jurisdiction.

When Joe was four or five years old, he would sometimes go to work with me on Saturday mornings.  I kept Power Ranger movies and dinosaurs in a special case just for him.  Joe interned at the AOG office during the summer after his freshman and junior years of high school and one summer during college. He was especially proud after his freshman year of high school when he developed reciprocal formulas for our net worth and income reports.  After his junior year, he did an excellent job re-organizing our investment company files.  Joe and Austin Ortlip did an excellent job one summer converting our paper files to digital storage.  Although Joe has never expressed an interest in working as a financial advisor, he has made some important contributions to our firm.   During his first job after college, he learned excellent work skills and worked very effectively for a major investment company.  Although Joe has not yet decided where he will go to work in September, I am confident that he will be able to make immediate contributions in securities law, whether at a law firm, investment firm or regulatory body.  Congratulations to all the graduates of 2017!