This summer I interned with Bank of America in Charlotte, NC. I worked on the trading floor of the Bank of America Corporate Center with the Chief Investment Office, specifically with the economists on the team. The economists are responsible for reporting on global and US economics and informing the treasury department of their findings, as well as their projections and opinions.

            Something that changed about myself during this project was my general understanding of the importance of keeping up with global and national economics. Economic trends are very important in the world of finance as they can indicate where the economy is in the business cycle. This is important to know because banks in particular do have increased supply in the form of deposits when the economy is in a recession. They also have increased demand and higher interest rates when the economy is in an expansion. Therefore, knowing where the economy is in the business cycle is important for the bank’s operations. I now read the news every day to ensure I am up to date with the current state of the national and global economy.

            I also changed the way I view myself. Living in Charlotte, a city I have never been in, really encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone. In Charlotte, I became very confident in my abilities to make friends in a new city and live alone without any family members nearby. I learned that I am a self-sufficient and strong woman. Living in Charlotte gave me the confidence I needed to accept a job after graduation in a city away from my family. I will be moving to New York City after graduation for a 2-year rotational program with Bank of America. I never would have had the confidence to take on New York had I not interned in Charlotte.

            One relationship I had that made my internship experience incredible was with my mentor, Shannon Lilly. Shannon Lilly is the treasurer of Bank of America and is my mentor through my Honors Finance Cohort at OSU. Shannon helped me obtain this internship and I am eternally grateful for all he has done for me. Over the summer, Shannon was such an incredible and supportive mentor. He got coffee with me many times even though he is an incredibly busy man. He also encouraged me to go to New York and try something new. I’m very excited for this next chapter of my life and couldn’t have done it without his help and encouragement.

            We also had many events that were transformational for me throughout my internship. The internship program provided interns with many incredible networking opportunities. I truly learned the importance of networking over the summer. I loved making connections and lasting professional friendships with many people in many different departments of Bank of America. Everyone at the bank is so willing to help young analysts find their career path and succeed. I never knew working for such a big corporation in the world of finance could provide me with such support. My worldview has been changed because of this uplifting environment that I was able to work in.

            Finally, I was able to make many friendships with other interns in the program. I met many students from different schools and backgrounds. I really enjoyed making lasting friendships with these other students. I am also excited to work with them in the near future, as they accepted their return offers as well. I did not head into the summer with the mentality that I would make such lasting friendships but am so thrilled that I was able to.

            My biggest transformation was the growth of my personal confidence. After this summer, I am confident that I am on the correct career path. I was very nervous going into the summer because I thought that I would not know anything about finance and that I would not do a good job working for the CIO group. However, my team was incredibly supportive and was very proud of the work that I produced. They even showed some of the charts and presentation that I made to the CEO of the bank! This really helped to build my confidence and know that I am doing well with my work and that I am on the right track. This self-assurance also gave me the confidence I needed to live in New York. This is something I would have never pictured myself doing before the summer started. However, now that I am confident in myself, I know that I can live in New York and enjoy it. I am very excited for the social and professional opportunities that New York will provide me.

My STEP Signature Project was an internship with Advanced Drainage Systems, a company that develops water solutions and piping for the continental US. My role was as an intern in the Plant Service Group, which travels the country installing and updating equipment for next generation recycling systems, pipe manufacturing, and laser etching, among other machinery.

This internship taught me a lot about myself. First and foremost, I learned that I really enjoy traveling for work. I had assumed that I enjoy staying around my home for work, since that is what I have done for my entire life, but being forced to travel showed me how much I value those new experiences. I also learned about people from a variety of backgrounds, and challenged the assumption that acknowledged degree is required to progress, an engineering company. I met many people who were simply working class individuals, and had moved their way up the chain of command at ADS over a process of several years, and we’re now well situated in the company without ever having gone to college. Finally, I learned to appreciate the work that ADS does on a daily basis. When I originally signed onto the internship, I had assumed that the subject may not be super interesting to me, but I grew to appreciate all of their manufacturing processes, their advanced recycling systems, and what they do for the US in general.

In terms of travel, I am traditionally a stay at home, kind of person. I don’t tend to go out very much and for a long time has been intimidated by the idea of taking flights to different places, or going on a road trip to a far away destination. This internship forced me to confront those feelings into travel quite a lot, Taking me to California, Washington, Iowa, and more all in the space of a few months. Such a concentrated period of travel really helped me develop into an experience traveler quickly, and also showed me that I actually quite enjoy travel, as long as I am prepared for it. Being able to see so many new destinations and experience so many different things was absolutely thrilling, and it helped that my company provided some Guard rails to the organization of my travel, rather than me having a figure out every single thing on my own. I traveled with and without companions along the way, and learned that I enjoy both of these experiences as well, so I prefer traveling with other people as opposed to on my own.

During my travels, I also met people from a variety of backgrounds. Many of the people that I worked with both in management positions and throughout the factories were working as individuals, and few of them had published degrees. I had initially assumed that to be promoted to a high-level and accompany, one would have to have a high-level of education, and go to college for engineering. Internship open my eyes to the fact that people from a variety of backgrounds can succeed in a variety of ways, and that an upper management position is not the goal of every person in the world. Furthermore, for those who do want to climb the corporate ladder, it is possible to do so, without a college degree, provided that you have a lot of hard work and dedication. Many of my bosses Had simply graduated from high school and started working for the company, and overtime had climbed to higher and higher positions through their ability and hard work. I agree to respect these people greatly, and appreciate the acceleration that my college degree was providing me, in climbing the corporate letter, while also admiring determination that they showed in achieving their goals.

Finally, I agree to appreciate my companies work in a way that I did not expect I would going into the internship. I originally joined the company because it seemed like an interesting position, but I was unsure how interested I would be in the subject of the work, namely, the manufacturing of water filtration systems, recycling systems, plastic manufacturing, and water pipes. Throughout my time at ADS, I grew to really appreciate water systems. I never really considered how prevalent water systems are in the United States, but the country literally would not run without them. The company that I worked with helps keep the wheels turning every day, and now when I pass a large water filtration system on a highway or simply go to get a glass of water from the fridge, I appreciate the work that they do. I also did not anticipate how forward thinking they would be about recycling, but ADS leads the plastic manufacturing industry in reusing plastics, and repurposing them towards a greater cause. I greatly appreciate this from moral perspective, and from the society perspective. I think this is a great thing to do and it made me appreciate my company even more.

This internship will significantly impact my life going forward. On a day-to-day level, it has made me much less afraid of travel, and much more willing to experience new things in the world. On an emotional level, it has given me an appreciation for the world I live in and the people that I coexist with, and his generally made me more, considerate person. In terms of my life goals, I know that I enjoy working at companies like ADS, which has given me something to work post graduation. I hope to someday work at ADS or a company that has similar high morals, high impact on society, and respect for its employees.

An etching machine in a factory setting which I helped to install.

1. My STEP signature project involved working in an intern role at Whitehouse Group in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Whitehouse Group is a management consultant firm, but my role focused primarily on financial planning and analysis. Working at a small business allowed me to experience a wide range of learning opportunities that may not have been available working at a larger corporation.

2. One view of the world I had that was changed through this experience is how important the relationships you have with others is, especially in a professional environment. There were instances I noticed where sometimes collaboration between individuals allowed them to achieve so much more than if they were just to split the tasks up and do them separately. Positive synergies between employees can improve the efficiency and ease of the work that needs to get done. However, if the relationship between coworkers is unhealthy, it can have a negative compounding effect that prevents anything from getting done.

Something else that was transformational that I experienced over the summer was the importance of quality work. This may seem very apparent but producing deliverables that are “just good enough” are never truly good enough. Producing work that routinely exceeds expectations creates a reputation that can take you far in the professional world.

3. One specific example I had with this was when my supervisor went on vacation, and it forced me to work with some of the other employees. They helped me out a lot when they didn’t have to, and my work wasn’t necessarily their top priority. However, a little later in the summer when they were swamped with work, I wanted to help them out and was able to save some of their time since they went out of their way earlier to help me. These relationships can enhance the overall productivity within a company.

Since the Whitehouse Group is a relatively small organization, one of the benefits I got from it was direct access to leadership within the company. As an intern, I understood that the principals of the company had a lot of responsibilities that were not related to me, so I didn’t want to waste their time with meaningless questions, but when I wanted to gain a deeper understanding on some topic or event, they were very helpful. They have been running the company for almost 20 years, so they have lots of experience and history that they were able to use to teach me with.

The two main projects I was working on during the summer included creating a couple page long reports responding to clients’ questions and then telling a story of how I got to this answer. My supervisor during this time was the head of the quality assurance division and whenever I thought I had created something perfect he had always managed to find a whole lot of improvements that could be made. At the time, this was pretty frustrating but when I finally got to the final products, I was glad of all the different rounds of proof checking that took place. Then when I finally presented my projects to the clients I was working for, they were shocked at the level of work that I was able to produce.

4. Overall, this internship was a very transformational experience, allowing me to grow both my personal and professional skills. It was my first real job working in a professional environment, but it was also at a relatively small firm where I was able to get hands-on experience with many different aspects of business.

Antoine Gray

STEP Post-Project Reflection Prompts

My STEP Signature Project was to complete an architectural internship, which I did at HBM Architects over the summer. The goals of my Signature Project were to complete a site visit, continue learning software like AutoCAD and Revit, and complete a summer project to be present to staff members at the end of the summer, which all were completed during this experience. Through this experience, I grew my understanding of how the field operates. I learned to design/complete floor plans, site plans, interior elevations, and reflected ceiling plans, and I did a lot of 3D printing to create physical site plan boards for library projects.

At my internship, the firm I worked at focused solely on library architecture. I was able to learn and see how much community input and outreach occurs before you get to design the library. Libraries today have changed from being a place to only read books, to community centers, where career resources, events, and maker/fab lab spaces are fostered. My view on the purpose of architecture has changed to where now I realize that the health and wellness of the people who will use these spaces needs to come first. This was mentioned in college, but I gotta see it first hand at this internship.

For half of the summer, I created site plan boards and 3d prints of all our company’s library creations. These were to be displayed in our firm office to showcase our projects. If the project was in ongoing development, the site plan board would be sent to clients so they could have a visual of the project. Designing these boards helped me develop and improve my technical skills in software such as Sketchup, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop, which are used heavily in my architecture education and the workspace. For the other half of the summer, I worked on construction documentation for new library developments and renovations. I improved my skills in Revit Software, which is an essential part of the architecture career that isn’t taught in colleges due to it limiting creativity. So to be the first intern at this company to work on construction documentation was exciting, and to improve my Revit skills from my previous internship was a plus.

At my internship, I was also able to experiment with other areas of architecture that interest me like urban planning. The firm’s library planner gave me master planning tasks to complete, which exposed me to a whole other career within the architecture realm. I also did my first-ever site visit at Lima Library to complete and verify measurements of every room in the buildings, taking hundreds of photos.  At the end of my experience, I was able to complete an additional 500 hours toward the architecture licensing prerequisites, a total of 1009 hours.

My expectations for this internship and my STEP Signature Project were to complete a site visit, continue learning software like AutoCAD and Revit, and I will complete a summer project that I will present to staff members at the end of the summer. From the project, I received feedback, which I will implement in my next Co-op experience or as an architecture student. After completing this internship, I completed every one of the goals; I completed a site visit at Lima Library to verify the measurements of the building for a future addition to the structure. I was the first intern at this company to use Revit and worked on library construction documentation. My summer project was to complete site board boards of the company library projects they designed.

Real world experience is very important for architecture students, especially since a lot of the things you need to learn/experience in the field, just can’t occur in college. For example, learning the Revit software is essential in the architecture field, but isn’t taught in college since it limits creativity, but it’s used everyday in the workforce. Also real world experience, especially early on, can help you figure out what area of architecture you actually want to spend your life doing; at my internship I worked heavily on library architecture, and now I see a life-long career in it due to this experience. This internship not only prepared me for life after college, but I can still use the skills I learned in my final year of undergraduate and in masters program.

This past summer, I chose to use my STEP fellowship to support my Accounting internship at RSM in Columbus, Ohio. I was an Assurance Intern for eight weeks this summer, and was tasked with learning more about the fundamentals of public accounting and working on my professional development skills.

My outlook on my career changed massively this summer, as I was able to gain first hand experience and knowledge in the world of public accounting. I plan on pursuing public accounting as a career after I graduate from the Fisher College of Business, and the insight I gained this summer has only added to my confidence in my decision. I greatly enjoyed the work I performed at my internship with RSM, as it directly intertwines with the reasons I chose Accounting as my major in the first place. The STEP Fellowship was crucial to my success at my internship, allowing me to put resources to use in the proper channels and allowing myself to participate in internship training in Chicago in June. While working this summer, I realized that I am indeed capable of learning and succeeding in a corporate environment, something that I was unsure of given my lack of experience.

As mentioned previously, I participated in a comprehensive internship training program in Chicago, Illinois at RSM’s global audit headquarters. For four days, I was tasked with absorbing a massive amount of information and instructions, followed by insightful exercises and activities that tested the skills being taught. I found that I was able to apply myself in the necessary capacities required in order to excel, and therefore solidifying my confidence throughout the week. As the training week progressed, I was also able to increase my professional and soft skills, engaging in conversations regarding career advice, technical know-how, and so much more. The leaders and fellow interns I collaborated with took the experience to another level, leaving me with a lasting impression on both RSM and for my future career goals and aspirations. The STEP fellowship was extremely helpful throughout my week in Chicago, enabling me focus on the work at hand and not on my financial situation.

After the week of training, I was confronted with a new set of problems to be solved and new relationships to build. As I familiarized myself with the Columbus team and the work that I was confronted with, I was able to use the newfound strength and perseverance I had acquired to work in sync with management and other interns to achieve our goals. Each week I was assigned a new manager with a new project, which created an environment that encouraged consistent growth and communication. Included in this growth was the connections that I was able to build with other young professionals, who laid out a blueprint for success that I carried with me throughout the eight weeks I worked at RSM. I found myself gaining the confidence necessary to ask intuitive questions, contribute effectively to strategic discussions, and collaborate with the intern team.

The culmination of my internship was a two day trip to the RSM office in Cleveland, Ohio, where the internship team and myself were tasked with giving a presentation regarding the state of the industrial manufacturing industry. I was able to participate in an engaging simulation involving mock clients, where I was tasked with being ‘partner for the day’ of an imaginary accounting firm. The purpose of this simulation was to give interns a look into the high level decisions and discussions that take place between company leadership and potential clients. I was able to use the skills built throughout the internship to engage effectively with the simulation and to take away key nuggets of information that I was not previously informed on. After this simulation, my intern group presented our project in a clear and concise manner, propelled by the insight gained throughout our internship, leading to our group being named the best presentation in the region. This accomplishment reflected directly on my ability to research, collaborate, and communicate to a group of peers in a way that others can easily digest and reflect upon.

My eight weeks at RSM have allowed me to gauge my preparedness and career trajectory as my date of graduation rapidly approaches. Throughout my time at Ohio State, there have been periods of uncertainty where I questioned what my years of schooling would amount to. I have always been a forward thinking and thoughtful person who tries to plan ahead. My experience at RSM solidified my confidence in my career goals, assuring myself of my decisions and of my competence as a professional. In a world where there are so many different paths to take and a limitless amount of decisions to make, it is comforting to have a path to follow. The support from so many different people along my journey has helped to strengthen my own internal confidence, while preparing me for life post graduation. The STEP fellowship enabled me to get a jumpstart on my career aspirations and goals, providing me with security and guidance required to make strides in many different aspects of professional and personal life.

1. My STEP project was an internship focusing on finance since I wanted this internship to be related to my major, which is finance. My internship was at the corporate headquarters of The Wendy’s Company. I was the internal audit intern for my team and worked on SOX controls, franchise (FZ) audits, and T&E expenses within the main focus of internal business.
2. From this project, I learned what I’m good at related to finance and that, even though audit falls under accounting, it can also involve finance in some ways. I didn’t really enjoy accounting in class, but I found auditing interesting in the corporate field. It also helped me better understand what skills I am good at and what skills I can improve upon, whether they are technical or soft skills.
   In corporate settings, these skills are very important, and I learned many soft skills from being in that environment. Some of these were communication-based, critical thinking, presenting, etc. With technical skills, I focused more on data analysis and figuring out the programs and systems we use to analyze the data we’re given and determine how to test it. There were a lot of small details I didn’t know about myself until I entered the corporate world, and it’s good to see that I’ve become more confident in understanding how small details work together in that environment.
3. We had multiple events and I had the opportunity to develop great relationships. We had an intern week, during which we got to talk and hang out with the other interns, and it was interesting to see what they were working on and how they got this internship as well. I made new relationships throughout the internship with people from OSU and other colleges. I also presented to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), which helped me develop my presentation and speaking skills, as well as gain experience in talking to higher leadership. It gave me the opportunity to showcase what I did this summer and what I learned.
   My manager and the internal audit team were also very helpful in making sure I understood what I was doing with the three main tasks and that my project for the SLT looked good. I also learned how to navigate corporate life and act professionally. I mainly learned about the corporate environment and how to act and be confident in it through my manager. She was a great resource for my internship I learned a lot from her while working on my projects and developing my soft and technical skills.
   From all of these different experiences interactions with other people and events, I definitely learned more about myself in that corporate setting. Before, I thought I had it all figured out but you don’t usually know how corporate works until you experience it for yourself. Overall, I gained new skills and a new environment which led me to transform into becoming more confident.
4. This change is valuable in my life because it helped me be more confident in different types of professional settings. I learned how to act and think critically in certain situations where we don’t have all of the information or data needed or something went the other direction that we weren’t expecting. It also helped me become more independent and ask for help when needed, not just when I wanted it. I needed to understand that my manager can’t go over every little thing I’m doing one step at a time. I had to do it first, learn from my mistakes, and then improve the next time
   This change will help me academically and professionally within my goals. Since I am going the finance/business route within my career, being in a corporate setting is pretty much inevitable. From this experience, the developmental change helped me learn those types of soft skills and technical skills as I mentioned. These skills are going to be important for my future in the way I talk to people and engage with work.

First day of the internship

Last day of the internship

An understanding of myself that transformed while completing my Signature Project was that I was able to adapt to remote work. I previously thought I worked best in in-person settings with real-world interactions and that lacking these could be challenging for me. Although I never met any of my colleagues in person, I was able to interact with them via Microsoft Teams meetings and frequent chats, which made me feel connected. I was also able to solidify my ability to work independently while staying aligned with my team’s values through frequent check-ins with my manager.

Additionally, my view of the world changed because I was exposed to a working environment that I had not been able to see as a student. It was valuable to see how what I have been learning in my classes translates into the real world. Seeing how my life could be post-grad was something I would not have experienced without this internship.

Furthermore, having frequent check-ins with my manager made me feel more connected to the organization, as I communicated personally with my boss. My manager ensured that I was doing well and understood everything I was being assigned. She also made it a point to let me know that I was doing a good job and encouraged me to keep up the good work, which I appreciated.

We also had team meetings through Microsoft Teams, where student interns and regular staff could ask questions if needed. These meetings served an educational purpose as our managers discussed any new updates in the medical coding and billing world and provided us with resources to refer to. Our managers would follow up the meetings with an email summarizing everything discussed, including answers to any questions that they might not have been able to answer immediately.

Moreover, connecting with other student interns made me feel more comfortable with remote work, as I felt I was still getting to know other young professionals. A group chat was created for all the interns, allowing us to get to know each other better. It was also helpful to bounce ideas or questions off each other to strengthen our understanding of office tasks.

Lastly, this experience is valuable for my life because it strengthened my ability to adapt to any situation, which is important in the professional world. My professional goals involve working in hospital administration, and many of these roles are remote. Having a remote internship with a hospital provided me with real-world experience before graduating. My ability to successfully work remotely while still interacting with colleagues and feeling connected to the organization is something I gained from this internship that I will use post-grad.

My office space that I completed my remote internship at.

My name is Nikita Khaykin and my signature project involved my internship this past summer at Citibank in Chicago. My role was as a corporate banking analyst where I was largely responsible for assisting the consumer, retail, and healthcare coverage group, effectively acting as an analyst in training. I spent 10 weeks in this role between June and August.

This role became a massive shift for me both in my lifestyle and in a professional sense. Personally, living in Chicago was a huge change-up from living near campus in Columbus or from my native suburban Cincinnati. The sheer amount of events and things to do nearby as well as the architecture and living conditions in the city were extremely different and helped point out what I had been missing in my life in Ohio.

Likewise, the work itself was wildly different from what I had experienced in any previous jobs and internships. The experience was much more intense from an hours perspective with my average hours having been in the mid-80s each week once the training had concluded. Despite consistently high hours, I was able to see myself improve drastically in both efficiency and accuracy in the work which has been a boon for all remotely similar work in my finance-oriented classes. In addition to being able to see myself improve in real-time, I had the opportunity to work in a group with a great work culture. This is to say that my main professional takeaways are the importance of working in a group with a good culture as well as the fact that high hours are doable for me.

The main factors contributing to these new views came down to the realities of the job. Firstly, as far as changes that came about in terms of understanding what kind of physical environment I wanted to be in, the realization that I wanted to be in a big city came from my immersion in Chicago for around 11 weeks. I had grown up in Cincinnati Ohio and had never lived outside of the state. While I have been rather comfortable in my experience here wholistically, the opportunity that this internship gave me to see what life was like in a different environment was extremely eye-opening. I came to value the cultural scene in the city greatly, including everything that it entailed. Whether it was great food, world-class attractions, or people with extremely diverse backgrounds, this experience really showed me that living in a large city could dial up all of my favorite parts of Ohio!

An important work-related development was determining if I could work in an environment with extremely high hours. The banking field is notorious for the high hours that especially junior bankers must work in order to fulfill all tasks assigned. It was critical for me to determine if, despite my interest in the field, I would be able to sustain such hours for extended periods of time. This was doubly important because most of my other areas of interest such as in corporate law and consulting also require similarly high hours at first. Luckily, I found that with the right support, this kind of ask was something I could handle and as such was able to determine that I would be able to pursue both my interests in banking as well as in other fields I am interested in in the future.

Finally, I realized the importance of having a strong, positive work culture. Working long hours is almost always extremely taxing and every little thing can help. For me, this was support from fellow analysts, recognition from seniors, and a plethora of events that the firm held for interns and full-time employees. At first, the work seemed somewhat difficult but more importantly, was extremely overwhelming as the sheer quantity of work I was being assigned required significant effort to complete in time. With support from the full-time people in doing the actual task and recognition once it was done, I felt much better about my prospects which helped me persevere through the early tribulations. As such, this internship experience was most transformative in the sense that it showed me that I wanted to be in a large city like Chicago, could cope with high hours, and really valued a strong culture in a firm.

This experience was transformative all around, both professionally and personally. It did much to elucidate what I wanted in my future career as well as what my limits were and what I would require along the way. Critically, I was also able to secure and accept a return offer meaning that upon graduation next semester, I will be returning to Citi full-time. This sets me on what I believe to be a good path professionally and will act as a springboard for my other professional endeavors which will be shaped by this experience. As such, I feel myself to be in a much better, more confident position having completed this internship and am grateful to the STEP program for having provided resources to help me execute it.

To the right, I am pictured with my intern class at a Chicago Cubs game.

This summer I had the opportunity because of STEP to take an internship in New Albany, Ohio with a financial planning firm called Columbus Capital. My main responsibilities included learning from the different experts in our company about the six pillars of financial planning, preparing data for presentation, and engaging with clients.

Everything I have done in the Fisher College of Business to this point has been mostly  academic exercises. That is to say, I have learned things related to business that have little pertinence to how the business world operates in practice. I have learned things in the classroom that were scoffed about on my internship site this summer because of their lack of relevance to the “real” world. It was a refreshing reminder for someone who does not particularly enjoy school that the workforce does not operate in the same way that the classroom does. It was good for me to learn this summer about the ways things work from a microlevel in a small business. I got to watch employees in small business juggle different responsibilities and wear different hats to make operations work. I realized it requires many moving parts to form a well-oiled machine that is the harmony of small businesses that can get it right.

I came to learn the ways I am motivated this summer. I was in the first couple of weeks motivated to do good work because of the pay that I was receiving. It was not until a couple weeks in to the internship that getting paid merely became a compensation for the work I was performing rather than a motivator for productivity. It reminded me of what one of my favorite business professors, Lawrence Inks, told me about motivation—receiving a paycheck is only motivating for a short time before it simply becomes something you are owed. When work was slow and there was not a whole ton for me to do on certain days, I found myself losing motivation besides getting paid the same hourly wage through the summer. It helped me internalize this idea that money is not the sole motivator for success and that there are other components that go into job satisfaction.

I noticed that money aside, I am remarkably influenced by workplace culture. I have been affirmed this summer that I have no desire to work in a mega-corporate environment, because of the often lack of intimacy with coworkers. Obviously there will still be worthwhile relationships with coworkers in a corporate setting, but to me I really got to see the members of Columbus Capital lean on each other’s strengths to promote the good of the company. As I referenced earlier, I got to see team members juggle different tasks and compliment one another’s gifts and talents. It felt cohesive and tight. Every quarter, a member of the six person team gets to choose a “fun day” designed by them that it to promote team-building, cohesion, and friendship. I was fortunate enough to experience one of them and sit through a morning of yoga, Heads Up, lunch, and a happy hour with my coworkers. I noticed that I became very close with a couple of my coworkers and it meant much more to me than the paycheck I was earning. I even got the privilege of playing in a golf outing with one of my coworkers after the internship ended.

On top of the jovial relationships I got to experience with my coworkers, there was a particular individual named Andy that I got to grow in Christian faith with. I learned early on that he does mentorship with Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and does outreach to college students to share the Good News of the Gospel. He was the man I got to play in the golf outing with a few weeks after my internship—we even took first place atop 28 teams competing! I was very impressed throughout the summer by his friendliness and willingness to mentor me in more than just the work I was doing. I would pop into his office throughout the day for fun banter and the occasional serious conversation about our mutual faith and our families. It helped me realize that the workplace environment I am looking for goes beyond just the work that is being done in the office. The necessary component of cohesiveness and friendship play a huge role in the makeup of what I am looking for.

There was another woman in the office named Kristin that I would frequently discuss my life and faith with. She was exploring a new spiritually this summer that engaged a wholistic, inner-spiritual approach to faith in “the divine.” There were quite a few times I would challenge her newfound exploration and we would have good conversations about what she is actually searching for in her new spiritual journey that she was not finding in the Catholic Church where she was initially baptized and confirmed. It was cool to have conversations in the office that were of weighty matter and included closely held beliefs/opinions, and to do so rationally and understandingly taught me about conflict resolution in the workplace and agreeing to disagree. That was unique and showed me that exercises in the soft skills of the workplace are of crucial importance. There was never any animosity or ill-will, just cordial discourse and a level-headed desire to get the other party to see one another’s point.

The president of the company was far and away the most impressive businessman I have ever worked for. Jim completely blew me away in his capacity to live a life of passion, completely rooted in doing meaningful work for his clients. He did his work almost completely out of passion and love of what he did. He was also one of the smartest men I have ever worked for. His mind was so vast and deep that it was almost hard to comprehend. It happened on multiple occasions that I would ask him a question and get an hour long response. What made it tolerable was that he was also a great teacher and storyteller. I remember learning offhandedly from one of my coworkers at the end of the summer that he paid himself something in the range of $50,000 a year in total compensation just so that he could pay his employees more. All of them earned more than he paid himself even though he was a 62-year-old 40 year veteran in the financial planning industry. Talk about an exercise in leadership.

All things considered, my summer work taught me that a career is not entirely and solely about the work you do. It certainly aids towards a satisfactory career, but it is not everything. What I am most looking forward to doing in my career is doing something I am passionate about. If I can achieve the intersection of pay, passion, and people in my career then I am doing something right. So now as I am looking at career options and am applying for jobs, I am asking pointed questions to interviewers about what their workplace culture is like.

1. I interned at Burns & McDonnell this summer, working within the Energy and Utility Consulting Team for my STEP Signature Project. This entailed working with utility clients to design their rate structures for customers. This involved heavy data analysis, modeling, and using those results to tell a story.

2. This summer, I learned a lot about how I am rewarded in a professional environment, as well as what kind of work interests me. I’ve found when I am intellectually challenged, it pushes me to work the hardest or most efficiently. Along with that, my view on various industries and possible professions has shifted dramatically this past summer. I had never imagined a future in the energy and utilities industry, and how many possible opportunities there could be. It is a very robust world, and with the growing need for data centers and AI, there are a lot of opportunities within this industry.

3. Working with a team that promotes diversity of thought allowed me to learn more about various industries and facets of work, in a judgement-free environment. I was able to learn about more technical fields with my mentors and managers, allowing me to gain exposure to fields of study than I would be able to in my traditional classes.Working with clients and having a hands-on role on projects with my team gave me a lot of insight into the industry itself, as well as the project lifecycle of a consulting project and the necessary workflows needed to be successful. Being apart of these deliverables taught me how to analyze data, as well as develop effective financial models. Through working on some of these challenging projects, I learned what my working style was, as well as how I like to be rewarded for doing well on my projects.I developed a close relationship with my mentor this summer as well. He was an older analyst who had been at the firm for a few years, so he had a better understanding of the type of work we do and the best way to approach our projects. Along with that, I was in a new city this summer, so it was difficult to feel situated and find my place there. As a Kansas City Native, he took me around and showed me some of the sites and restaurants he really liked. This made me feel more comfortable and allowed me to explore more of the area.

4. This experience will play a pivotal role in my future in many ways. First and foremost, I was given a return offer for a full-time job after I graduate, so there is a tangible result to this internship. On top of that, I learned that I enjoy studying and working in the energy industry, which is another field I am looking into for future career paths. I also learned what aspects of that job I liked, and which values I want to carry forward in whatever job or life choices I make going forward.