I chose to use my STEP project funds for an internship in Chicago at a bank called Northern Trust. The program was over the summer for 10 weeks where I worked as the Banking Practice intern under Wealth Management. I worked mostly with the loan approval process and completed reports in excel.
My understanding of myself has changed a great deal after completing my STEP project. It was out of my comfort zone to spend an entire summer alone in a big city. I had also never done any kind of work like this before so I wasn’t sure if this internship would be a good fit for me. It ended up being a great experience and necessary for me to figure out more about my goals for a future career. It was an amazing opportunity to live and work in downtown Chicago for the summer and without STEP funds I don’t know if it would have been possible.
This internship was an excellent way for me to discover more about what kind of position I would like to pursue in the future. I greatly enjoyed the work I did over the summer and would love to hold a position like this in the future. At the end of the summer, I applied for a full time offer at Northern Trust and without this experience I never would have known to pursue this line of work.
My favorite aspect of my summer internship was the people I met and worked with over the summer. They helped to teach me a great deal about the Northern Trust and banking in general. I had a great mentor who gave advice that helped me to make decisions about my future. Everyone gave unique insight into possible career paths and encouraged me to explore every option. Having the chance to experience firsthand what a position at Northern Trust would look like has made me confident that I would enjoy working in a full-time career at the bank.
Before this internship I was nervous to live alone in a large city and wasn’t sure if it was something I would like to do after school. After completing this project I’m more confident that I would enjoy living in a big city like Chicago. It was very exciting, and I had a lot of fun getting out of my comfort zone. I even tried some new activities like yoga while I was there. Having STEP funds made this internship possible because it helped make the high cost of living and food manageable.
Throughout the internship I gained new skills and abilities that will help me in the future even if I don’t end up working at Northern Trust. I worked a lot in excel which helped me to build new skills with report writing and formulas. These abilities can be translated to many different positions and have made me into a more effective worker. I’m glad I got to build these skills because I hadn’t had the opportunity in my past experiences.
This project allowed me to foster new skills and was my first introduction to a professional work environment. I had the chance to live in downtown Chicago, have new experiences, and decide if living there in the future would be a good fit for me. Getting the chance to work at a bank in a big city was also an excellent opportunity to build a better understanding of what career I would like to pursue in the future. I had the ability to create strong relationships with multiple people that worked at the bank and gather an idea of different possible career paths for the future. Without STEP I don’t believe this experience would have been possible.