When Robert W. Martin '99 said he planned to make the most of his college years, he didn't take it lightly.

An honors economics concentrator with plans to graduate in January, Martin has worked 50-60 hours each week since the beginning of his junior year at Advent International Corporation, a global private equity firm based in Boston which manages $3 billion invested in more than 400 companies.

"I wanted to round out my skills set," Martin says.

With plans to work during his junior year, he began his campaign for an internship at Advent International in June of 1997. It took three months of networking and a Harvard connection to secure a position by the beginning of fall term, he said.

After learning that a Harvard graduate had a connection with a partner at the firm, Martin called the partner 40 times in one month for an interview, only to be told that the firm did not employ interns. After placing dozens of calls with another partner in the firm, he was again told there was not enough work for an intern.

With nothing to lose, Martin persisted.

"I'm like, `Okay, you're lying,'" Martin recalled of the telephone conversation.

He offered to work for two weeks without pay, unless he was called that week and told that there was no work.

"I figured if I could get in there and show them what I did, the merits would speak for themselves."

Martin disconnected his phone and headed to the firm's offices in Boston that week, introducing himself to everyone as the new intern.

The partners told Martin they tried to call him, but never got an answer.

"I don't know what happened," he told them, shrugging. He had gotten his foot in the door, and that's what counted.

In the field of private equity, persistence and good sales pitches sell, Martin says.

"Half of the time, they're trying to figure out if you can do the job. The rest of the time, they're figuring out how much you want the job."

Though Martin says his employers were apprehensive about hiring a student with relatively little experience, he was officially hired as an intern by the end of the week.

Since his unorthodox welcome into the company, Martin has researched prospective companies for investment, conducted industry studies and started a company newsletter.

Last week, he was offered a full-time position as the youngest associate in the firm and is working on recommending a student for the newly established internship position.

He will have to decide among offers from Advent, the Trilogy Development Group in Austin, Texas, and Proctor and Gamble by Oct. 2. Though he won't disclose hiscurrent salary or the offers he's received, Martinsays he has "no complaints at all."

Martin's beginning is not unlike that of anyother pre-business student at Harvard. He wasappointed assistant manager of Let's Go at HarvardStudent Agencies halfway through his first year.

"I think it was a great stepping stone," hesaid. "It's a way for you to make mistakes andlearn, but not devastate the organization."

He also interned at John Hancock LifeInsurance, in direct mail and marketing, and atProctor and Gamble, where he marketed cosmetics toretail outlets.

This semester, Martin is taking four courses,including one at the Sloan Business School at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Balancingwork and classes means taking courses that meet at8 a.m. or in the evening.

"My class attendance is not one hundredpercent," he admits.

But missing classes does not necessarily meanmissing much, Martin says.

"A lot of stuff that Harvard teaches, you canread in a book," he said. "Up until this point,I've probably gotten less than 20 percent of mylearning at Harvard, a very minimal amountcompared to what I've learned in the workingworld."

While most students struggle to jungleacademics, extra-curricular activities and sociallife, Martin is also a member of the HarvardInvestments Association and the HarvardEntrepreneurial Club and is engaged to Kirklandresident Rachel Perez '99.

He and Perez won second place in last year'sEntrepreneurial Competition for a project thatmatched job hunters with companies based onpsychological profiles over the World Wide Web.

Martin says his ultimate goal is to create acompany, build it up and take it public.

"I'm one hundred percent focused. I've knownwhat I've wanted since I was a wee child," hesays.

But the path that Martin chose to take is notwithout its sacrifices, he says.

"Have I missed out on things at Harvard? Yes.Would I do it again? Definitely," he says