Teens get down to business at Molloy College

Thousands of Long Island high school students, free for the summer, will be at the beach, a park or a job earning some extra money this morning. But 17-year-old Nicole Saviolis, who will be a senior in September at Sewanhaka High, will be at boot camp -- by choice.

Not Army boot camp, but business boot camp. Saviolis is one of about 80 high school students who competed to get into a weeklong program at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, where they will take classes on Life as a CEO, Lead Don't Manage and Can You Handle the Truth: Ethics in Business.

Students had to be recommended by their guidance counselors and interviewed by members of Molloy's business faculty, said the business school dean, Ed Weis. "We're looking for enthusiasm," he said. "We're looking for the kind of people we would have hired in our executive pasts." Weis was a managing partner in investment banking at Merrill Lynch.

Saviolis wants to study international business and fashion, so she can open a design house in Italy someday, she said. Max Mendez, 17, who will be a senior in the fall at Chaminade High School in Mineola, said he wants to be a business major in college. "My favorite movie is 'Wall Street,' " he said with a laugh, referring to the 1987 Oliver Stone film about a young and impatient stockbroker willing to do anything to get to the top.

Emily Vasilopoulos, 17, a senior this fall at Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead, wants to study business and dance, and possibly run a dance studio one day. "I've always had an interest in business, but high schools don't offer many classes in that field," Vasilopoulos said.

As for the beach, Saviolis said she won't miss it. "This will be more beneficial," she said.