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August 25, 2009
Andrews '12 Had Hands On Internship
Adam Andrews '12 - This summer I had the unique privilege of working hands-on with Mr. Andrew Shelton, an entrepreneur that owns and runs TrackPack Coolers. TrackPack Coolers is a company that sells an insulated backpack cooler that dispenses beverages on the go.  My internship began the first week of July, and is coming to a close this week. It has been an outstanding experience. While applying for internships this past spring, I was searching for one that would provide me with a well rounded, yet in-depth business experience with an accomplished Wabash Alum. I'm glad to be sitting here in August, with classes right around the corner, knowing that the internship I completed proved to be everything I was hoping for and more. The work in which I was involved reached across the spectrum of business activity. I began by learning about the company. This included reading Mr. Shelton's extensive business plan, learning about the product, and speaking with Mr. Shelton about the company's current and future objectives. I was happy to hear that marketing was going to be a large part of my internship, as marketing is the part of business operations that interests me the most. Mr. Shelton taught me an enormous amount about SEO, otherwise known as search engine optimization. I've spent a great deal of time throughout this internship learning about the online tools that are available to search engine optimize, and utilizing them with Mr. Shelton to ensure that the company's search engine keywords are most authentically representing the company and its product, as well as most efficiently attracting the best group and of consumers to the website. Factors that we use to determine this efficiency include online consumer intention (OCI), cost per click (CPC), and global monthly search volume. The knowledge that I have gained from this project and related ones is invaluable marketing knowledge that I will use in the future. Another large part of my internship has been researching and implementing social media marketing techniques. I've learned more about Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter than I ever thought I would. I put together reports on the uses of these social sites for marketing purposes, going especially in-depth with Facebook. A lot of companies are using Facebook Pages to promote their brand today, and the possibilities for brand growth and reinforcement on Facebook are endless. Mr. Shelton and I made a Facebook Page for TrackPack Coolers http://www.facebook.com/trackpackcoolers?ref=ts , and have been exploring the different techniques and tools that are available to reach our demographic and spread our brand awareness. One of the ways we have done this is by promoting fan engagement. We have had a number of fans engage the page and post videos and pictures, which is a good start in the online social media marketing process. Also, many of the companies that have executed successful Facebook Marketing Campaigns have integrated coupons and promotions into their page. Mr. Shelton has updated the page with a coupon code for use at www.trackpackcoolers.com, and the company has had sales in which the Facebook coupon code was used. There were really so many things that I was involved in during my internship, and resultantly so many critical learning experiences. I did retail merchandising store visits to local Kroger stores, organized warehouse inventory, shipped orders using online tools, spoke with potential wholesale buyers, assisted in writing a promotional sales letter, made comparative competitor analysis spreadsheets, learned about website management and development, and sold and promoted at TrackPack Coolers sales events. This internship was absolutely filled with difficult projects. These projects required me to think differently than I would if I was researching a topic in psychology, writing the thesis for a Spanish essay, or solving a tough calculus problem. I had to apply what I had learned about business and marketing through speaking with people, reading, the Marketing Immersion Program, and so many other ways, in an actual business where the decisions needed to be made today and the ideas felt like they needed to be implemented even sooner. I feel that I have begun to see the big picture of business, and more specifically entrepreneurship. There is so much that is involved. In business, within every task there are subtasks, and within every detail there are sub details. When running your own business, your attention to that detail and those subtasks must be at a high level. Whenever I would have an idea, or begin to solve a problem, Mr. Shelton would remind me of remaining internal and external factors that needed to be considered, and in most cases research and documentation would be necessary before the ideas could be implemented. The in-depth research, careful planning, drive for knowledge, and extremely hard working attitude that Mr. Shelton practices are several of his keys to success. I have undoubtedly further developed these characteristics, skills, and attitudes in myself over the course of the past 8 weeks. I know that I will be a better Wabash man and a better businessman because of it. My first year as a Wabash student taught me to think outside the box more than I had before, and my first summer as a Wabash student taught me how to think even more outside of the box, how to really utilize my mind and resources to apply knowledge and solve problems. This internship has absolutely given me more business experience and insight than I expected. In many ways, it has gone farther. Mr. Shelton really pulled my mind into the real world of business, entrepreneurship, and life. He showed me where hard work, attention to detail, a desire to learn, and dedication will get you. He just gets it, and by working with someone that utilized their mind and motivation to such a high degree, I am driven to do the same. That's what Wabash men do. Being an entrepreneurial intern this summer, and working with a man that had an idea for success and executed it has motivated me to do the same. I am constantly thinking of new products and services to be offered, or current ones to improve upon. Although I find many of them to be already patented or not as great of ideas as they originally sounded, I won't stop thinking. I shot a lot of ideas at Mr. Shelton this summer, and he just tells me to keep shooting, because that’s how a product is born. If you don't shoot, you'll never score.
August 19, 2009
Lempa '11 Returned to Poland for Internship
Filip Lempa '11 - I spent a significant part of my summer interning with PZU Życie SA, a life insurance division of the PZU Group. The PZU Group is the leader of the insurance market and one of the largest financial institutions in Poland. It is also one of the top insurance firms in Central and Eastern Europe.  I had the pleasure of working with three regional sales managers in Katowice, Poland, which has the largest network of PZU local branches in the whole country. The experience of working with my three mentors in the sales and client relation division was extremely rewarding. I learned a lot about how an insurance company operates and familiarized myself with different insurance and financial products. I had the opportunity to travel to eight local branches where my mentors and I instructed the employees about different sale-increasing strategies. I also prepared a very interesting analysis of the performance of the PZU structured product and designed a brochure that informed property insurance clients about PZU life insurance and financial products.
I have to admit that the PZU culture was a great fit for me. Everybody I worked with wanted to make sure that I learned a lot and make the most out of my internship. Moreover, I was very surprised to learn that almost all of the employees right away wanted me to call them by their first name. I found myself going back to the Katowice PZU office even when my internship came to an end. My mentors still wanted to share useful knowledge with me and I even got invited to participate in a high-level PZU recruiting process upon expressing interest in learning more about HR explaining that I work as a Peer Career Advisor on the Wabash Campus. I’m sure that I will keep in touch with all these great people in many years to come. Interning with the PZU Group was recommended to me by Bastian Wonschik’00, my career mentor. I’m very happy that I followed Bastian’s recommendation and I encourage every student to consult our alumni as well as the Schroeder Center for Career Development about their future careers.
August 14, 2009
Robbins '12 Reflects on Summer Work in the Arts
Peter Robbins '12 - As my internship at the Eiteljorg Museum winded down, I reflected on some very fond memories of friendly coworkers, successful events and an enjoyable workplace. Heading into the internship, I actually had no idea what to expect and was unsure whether I would enjoy myself. As it turned out, I’m very glad to have completed it as it was an experience that has taught me a lot of important things about the arts community, as well as the working environment in general. .jpg) In my short eight-week time at the museum, I have become vastly more familiar with important individuals in the art community, especially Native American artists in the area and around the country. I am also more aware of different Native American cultures in the modern world, which have learned to ensure the individualism of their own tribes while maintaining a sense of solidarity within the Native American community as a whole. The Native American community is one of the most interesting and historically rich communities in the United States, and while what I’ve learned is only a fraction of all that there is to learn, I’m proud that I know more about these cultures thanks to experiences I had during my internship. In addition to more widespread cultural knowledge, I’ve also learned more about the strong arts community in Indianapolis, which has been growing steadily for years. And despite cuts in government funding in recent times, I believe the arts community in Indianapolis will continue to thrive. It contributes greatly to the identity of the city and its aspirations to become a worldly, first-class urban area. It is an underrated arts community that I am proud to have become more familiar with. I am therefore saddened that the Know Indiana scholarship funding has expired. It is a shame that a Wabash student will not be able to have my same experience next summer. Thanks entirely to the fond memories I’ll keep of the Eiteljorg and its staff, I truly hope the arts internships of the Know Indiana program will someday be revived so others can take advantage of their great opportunities.
August 11, 2009
Not All Great Summer Experiences an Internship
Submitted by Tony Gigli '01 - The Wabash brotherhood reaches into tapestries that are extremely rare. Recently we experienced firsthand exactly just how broad Wabash’s strokes on the world’s tapestry are. Cameron McDougal ‘12, Grayson Swaim ‘12 and Tony Gigli ’01 all were chaperones at a camp for hard of hearing and deaf children sponsored by Hear Indiana . To our knowledge it was the first time ever that all of the male chaperones were Wabash men who are deaf or hard of hearing themselves. .jpg) Hear Indiana’s mission is advocating independence through listening and talking. In addition to a summer camp, this nonprofit organization hosts an educational conference, organizes the Talk Walk Run (5K), and provides resources to parents who have children with hearing loss. Grayson is also serving as Hear Indiana’s summer Communications and Marketing Intern. , Cameron has become active with the organization’s ongoing mentoring program, and Tony serves as an active board member and assistant camp director for the group. For the past 17 years, Hear Indiana has hosted a weekend camp however this year, thanks to generous sponsorships and donations, the organization expanded our program to be a week-long camp. What an enjoyable week it was! We helped out with and participated in numerous activities. Among other things, we assisted with rock climbing, canoeing, challenge wall, trust fall, archery, horseback riding, and kickball. Cameron McDougal ’12, writes: “As a hearing impaired person myself, I thought that I’d check out the camp this summer and see what it was all about. I never had the opportunity that these kids had growing up, where they can get together with other kids with the same condition. The best part about the camp for me was to show these kids that, despite their hearing conditions, they can still do everything that they want to do. I used to think that my hearing loss would prevent me from doing a lot of activities. But I was able to do everything I wanted to do. From playing high school football, pole vaulting, leading two high school clubs, and getting into a great school like Wabash and being active there. Being able to show kids that despite the hearing condition we can still do everything we want to, was the most rewarding and awesome experience of my summer. Grayson Swaim ’12, noted that Hear Indiana’s Youth Leadership Camp at Bradford Woods was an exciting and empowering experience for the children with hearing loss. Our goal was to challenge the children’s leadership abilities, encourage them to be assertive, and provide them a “structured atmosphere of fun with a purpose.” “I saw a lot of leadership potential in these children while they performed their activities. I hope they realized that, in the mainstream, they don’t have to be a follower because they have hearing loss. Instead, they were able to experience what it was like to have a passion to make a difference and lead a group towards their goals. Now, these children have an opportunity to apply what they’ve learned at camp to improve their lives in the mainstream.” Our goal next year is to continue to prove once more the timeless examples that the Wabash brotherhood will forever think critically, act responsibly, lead effectively, and live humanely. Wabash Always Fights!
August 10, 2009
Apostolidis '12 Found Great Internship On Campus
Stephen Apostolidis '12 - Having just wrapped up my freshman year at Wabash I was truly beginning to realize what a unique campus Wabash actually is. As the majority of my friends were heading home for the summer to either relax for a few months or work at a job they have little interest in I was heading back to Wabash.  Dr. Schmitzer-Torbert had given me an opportunity college freshmen rarely receive, a summer internship. Of course my first question when offered the position was what would the internship entail. When he told me I would be a research assistant I expected to be observing, cleaning, and assisting with small tasks. From day one of the internship however, I began to realize that was not the case.
The research we would be carrying out was examining the role of the infralimbic cortex in cocaine facilitated habit learning. For the experiment we used a total of eight rats who all received brain surgery, training, post-training injections, and final examinations. Surgeries began on day one and I assumed that because this was a vital part of the experiment I would be observing throughout the whole process. After demonstrating on our first subject Dr. Schmitzer-Torbert turned to me and asked if I wanted to give it a shot. A little nervous, but excited to perform my first brain surgery I eagerly jumped at the chance. Dr. Schmitzer-Torbert anesthetized the rat and placed him on the stereotax and then began to guide me through the procedure. It was at that moment I began to realize that I would not be the one assisting with the research, he was. Its experiences and opportunities like this that set Wabash apart from the rest. In high school I never imagined I would be partaking in research, let alone brain surgery the summer before my sophomore year. When I was going through the long process of choosing a college to attend Wabash was towards the bottom of my list. However, the more I learned about the college the more I became interested. Eventually Wabash became my number-one pick and I knew that’s where I belonged. A big part of that was because Wabash is known for its student faculty relations and grad school acceptance. This summer internship opportunity is a prime example of the reason I chose Wabash. Having just started my college experience I have already been given the chance to work alongside a professor and now have one of the most sought out criteria for grad schools, experience.
August 07, 2009
Edward Davis ’10 -This summer has been a learning experience and a big adjustment. I just returned from studying abroad in Paris in early June, and I moved into a new place near the school less than a week later. However, penniless, I was optimistic about the approaching summer but sad to have left Paris behind. No longer capable of having fresh baguettes and red wines in Crawfordsville, I found comfort in immersing myself in a new and interesting project, supervised by Frank Horvath ’85. He is the president of a third party agency bent upon matching and training employees with employers. Mr. Horvath asked me to create a plan to assess the current skill gaps in Indiana’s industries.  Although I have a background in research, I had never quite done anything like this. Since the research allowed me to work from anywhere, it was a big adjustment to work for a boss that I would never see. After we had a few meetings via phone, this anxiety was alleviated and soon replaced by the tasking process of trying to scope the project. Mr. Horvath would teach me that the process of acquiring new members was critical to the overall productivity of a business, and a costly mistake if done wrong. I then became aware that this research would help increase the odds of a successful union. I would simply gather the information about the two parties in question and see if they matched - much like an online dating site.
The work at first was monotonous, filled with number crunching and re-planning when the numbers were “un-crunchable”. Soon afterward, I was making meaningful assessments about what the numbers mean and building PowerPoint presentations to express my findings. Honestly, the work has been very rewarding. The way I see it, in our current recession, it is comforting to know that this research is not only helping build the future legacy of Wabash, but also helping people find the means to sustain themselves in healthy careers. Overall, the project has made me more economically conscious. And yes I know. Paris in the summertime would have been magnificent, but to get an opportunity to build my research skills and prepare myself financially for my final year at Wabash is a choice that I’m glad I made. It is my desire to own my own business one day, and It is this kind of research training that will allow me to make better decisions when assessing business moves for my business, thanks to the Small Business Intern Fund at Wabash College.
Musielak '10 Understanding Business Relationships
Paul Musielak '10 - This is my fourth week at Signature Graphics Inc. as an intern, and I figured it would be a good time to write a blog about my experiences thus far. I have already had a number of great learning experiences, and have even been involved much more in the selling process of fleet graphics than I expected to be. As an intern, I was really only planning on making copies, answering phones, or filing paperwork, but it has been far from that! Two weeks ago, I was able to make a trip with my supervisor, Jeff Cunningham, to Cincinnati, OH to watch a salesman in the field at a few meetings. The salesman had several meetings with prospective clients, and I was able to see how an introductory sales meeting should occur. I have extensive knowledge in Microsoft Office products, and I was able to finally see how my countless hours on Word/EXCEL/PowerPoint could be used in the real business world, especially in the technique of persuasion. It was a very interesting process, and I never really understood how psychological selling is until now. There were lessons that I have learned about doing business with others that I never even considered being important. Business relationships seem to be a very important topic at Signature and I have really come to the understanding about how crucial long term business loyalty can help any business succeed. I will be doing some role playing with my supervisor in which I “cold call” him (call a customer for the first time) and try to get an appointment. Then I will sit down in a simulated sales meeting in which I pitch our services for his business. Exercises like this, even though they are only with my well known supervisor, still get the blood flowing and are often very exciting. It will be an interesting couple of weeks coming up, especially with another sales trip that I am taking with him to Denver, Colorado. Here I will be sitting in on more sales meetings with him, and watch our selling process in action. This has been a great experience for me, and I believe a lot of the lessons I am learning in dealing with sales can be used in any type of business. This internship has really helped shape what I am looking to do after graduation. I feel that sales, although a little risky when fresh out of college/new territory/and only a certain amount of sales training, could be a very successful approach to a career. A person looking to do something in the sales field, I feel, must be very entrepreneurial and self driven because of how you are never actually in the office and basically running on your own schedule. However, with its very intense coursework, I believe Wabash can definitely prepare one for career like this.
Aboni '10 Learns Community Building from Veal '92
Kodjovi Aboni '10 - Well, it has been six beautiful weeks since I started my summer internship at the United Northwest Area Development Corporation. For those of you unfamiliar with community development corporations (CDCs), they are community organizations funded by the city and federal governments to maintain and develop the physical infrastructure of a community.  The City of Indianapolis, in particular, is divided into twelve areas, each with its own development corporation. The United NorthWest Area Development Corporation (UNWADC) in turn along with its sister organization UNWA Inc. are umbrella organizations of six neighborhoods in the City.
The mission of this Corporation is to revitalize the area and make it desirable for residence and commerce. The tasks include funding critical repairs to the homes of area residents, cleaning brownfields sites, remodeling abandoned properties, building new houses for first-time home-buyers, and pursuing developments that will attract businesses to the area. With the rise of foreclosures, the role of the community development organizations has become more critical in keeping low income inner-city neighborhoods habitable. Now, my role this summer under the leadership of Executive Director Keith Veal '92 has been to assist UNWADC in developing sustainable solutions for financial independence. This is a more daunting task for non-profit organizations. UNWADC has vacant properties that will not be developed for some time. These vacant properties will become urban gardens this fall. Community members have the opportunity to rent plots and cultivate their own produce. My tasks have been to collect information and develop a plan for the project. I met with interested parties and funders alike to discuss the viability of the project. I drafted proposals for the contractors that will be preparing the land for gardening and met with them. I have also talked to and met with civil engineers to test the soil and make it safe for produce. I wrote the grant proposal for the project and will be meeting with the City’s Brownfield Coordinator on Monday to discuss ways in which UNWADC can incorporate its project into the City’s. I have also assisted the project manager in coordinating home repair projects and visited city government offices as needed. I have also created a marketing campaign (brochures and website updates) to inform the area residents about the details of the programs offered by the Corporation. Furthermore, I’ve had the privilege to attend the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Corporation and a two day board capacity training program. What I have learned this summer is that any project that a corporation or institution wants to undertake must be self-sustainable and that making a non-profit organization a sustainable enterprise may be more challenging than for-profit organizations. But one thing I can say about this organization is that there is a tremendous commitment on the part of the staff and board to achieve self-sustenance and I would love to continue my involvement with this corporation.
August 05, 2009
Froedge '10 Learning Education at Childrens Museum
Justin Froedge '10 - This summer I have been priding myself in the fact that I keep in close touch with Wabash through reading the many different articles and blogs posted on the website daily. Many of the blogs that are posted are, of course, from fellow classmates posting about their exciting internships all over the country! While I believe that many of my Little Giant companions are having the experiences of a lifetime, it is hard for me to believe that anyone is having as intriguing or exciting internship as I am at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. (Except my fellow TCM intern Tian Tian) I truly have been privileged this summer as an intern in the School Services department of the world’s largest Children’s Museum.  If you have not been to the Museum in a few weeks, months, or years I would suggest making a trip back because of the many changes and additions the staff has made in only the short time I have been there. The new welcoming center has opened and the museum is playing host to 3000 year old artifacts from Egyptian pharaohs, including King Tut himself! (This all has taken place within the time I have been there!) Many of the icons that I remember from childhood are still in place, while many new exhibits have also taken their place within the core of the museum, including the famous water clock that still amazes me even though I walk by it 20 times a day. One icon, the carousel, has showed me that no matter how old you get, a spin in a circle on a metal horse can always bring out the little kid within.
From what I have said so far it may appear that I am just an exhibit tester all day, but this is far from the truth. While there is specific time for “gallery observations” during my week, I find myself on a very tight schedule for most of my day. As an intern for School Services I find myself working very closely with teachers who are at the museum in order to gain credit towards renewing their licensure in Indiana by participating in professional development institutes and workshops. I have been in charge of much of the logistical work for all of these workshops. This work includes all of the paper work and odd jobs that must be done in order to promise a professional workshop to teachers on topics that can range from Anne Frank to King Tut. Much of the work I do deals with informing teachers about all that the museum can offer them within their classrooms throughout the entire year, instead of just during the time they are planning for a field trip to the museum. In addition, I have had the opportunity to sit in meetings and lectures given by vice presidents and the CEO of The Children’s Museum in order to gain knowledge about what it means to be a professional in the business field with emphasis on non-profit organizations. Overall, I cannot possibly report all of my experiences in this small blog, but I can say that working with many highly educated educators in my department has given me a look at what it is like to use an education in education for educating educators. While this may seem like a mouthful, I came into this internship looking to discover the many different forms that are taken on by educators and I am thankful to The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis for showing me what is possible with a desire to teach.
Seibel '11 Worked for Marion County Democrats
David Seibel '11 - This summer I was the finance intern at the Marion County Democratic Party headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana. I gained a lot of great experience from this internship and am very glad I decided to take this position. I particularly enjoyed working with the party’s finances and meeting various elected officials throughout the city. On the whole, this was a fantastic experience  My favorite thing to do at the party headquarters was work with the financial database. The party receives contributions from various people that I would enter into the database to stay in compliance with Indiana law. I also entered all expenditures into this database. Then, I would analyze how we were spending the money we were receiving. I found out that the party was making very efficient use of their money. My Economics major and experience in Microsoft Excel was vital to the work I did with the party. It was a great feeling to know that my studies at Wabash are really useful in the real world!
I also really enjoyed meeting new people. Adam Kirsch, a Wabash alum and executive director of the party, gave myself and the other interns the chance to meet some very important people in the city. It was really neat to hear them talk about their careers and how they got to their current positions. A lot of them were nice enough to give me their contact information which could be useful for me in the future. It is great to know that I have connections with some pretty important people. Although I did not meet him personally, I got a chance to hear Bill Clinton speak at a dinner I attended.
Some things that I did not enjoy were drafting letters and sending out mailings. These letters were sent out so that the party could receive contributions from its members. Without these contributions, the party headquarters would not be able to operate so it was important that the Democrats in Indianapolis received the letters. Although it was a good feeling knowing I was helping the party receive money, it was still a lackluster task. In conclusion, I really enjoyed my experience with the Marion County Democratic Party and would recommend it to anyone interested in finance or politics. I am glad I got a chance to meet the people that I did and complete the work I was assigned. I also built some great friendships with the other interns. I now have a better understanding of the political system as well
German '11 Learns Inner Working of Law Office
 Jacob A. German '11 - My summer internship in Mr. Greg Miller’s law office has been invaluable allowing me the opportunity to learn about many aspects of his law practice as well as to view the inner workings of a small business office. I have acquired knowledge in many areas of the legal profession: vocabulary, protocol when interviewing clients, courtroom procedures and etiquette, legal fees and pro bono cases, privacy and professional behavior, and the different kinds of law practices. It has also been informative to learn about the positives and negatives of running a small business in today’s economic climate.
Mr. Miller, a 1983 Wabash graduate, is an attorney that specializes in tax laws and corporate finance. One of my responsibilities involves summarizing previous court and legal decisions that could impact his law practice in the future. My summaries encompass everything from tax abatements to foreclosures to inheritance judgments to the garnishing of wages. Obviously my knowledge of legal terms has increased dramatically. Another benefit of this summer’s internship is the chance to reflect on law as a profession, weighing different practices and specialties. In another year I will need to choose a law school and the type of law that I want to practice. Reading briefs, listening to clients, and discussing with Mr. Miller have given me a new perspective about this profession. A few clients face grim realities; children that must somehow care for aging parents and workers that receive a reduced income due to garnishment of wages. Perhaps I never realized that people seek legal counsel when they have serious, life-altering problems, but the sad reality of their personal issues was a poignant moment for me, and I will not easily forget what I have witnessed as a legal intern.  Professionalism is another term that has gained a new meaning for me. I must dress and act in a professional manner at all times. Wardrobe is only a small part of working in a business office. A lawyer must have listening and “people”skills when interviewing clients. He must regard every conversation as a private matter and a privileged communication. As a lawyer’s intern, I have had the opportunity to meet judges and prosecutors in superior, circuit, and small claims courts. I have a new respect for the hours of preparation that Mr. Miller spends before he appears in court. He “wins” his cases before he enters the courtroom.
It has also been evident to me that Mr. Miller must organize, finance, and operate his own business venture. The cost of utilities, an administrative assistant, office furniture, and building rent are his sole responsibility. Mr. Miller also carries a huge case load by himself. If he is ill or on vacation, there is no one to assume his duties; his success is entirely dependent upon his own efforts. That means he must plan for the unexpected, and long days are the norm, not the exception. Conversely, Mr. Miller has achieved independence with his law practice. He works in his office or the courtroom, and he has the chance to travel to meet with clients as well. Mr. Miller does many pro bono cases per year, and his altruistic commitment to his community and to Wabash College is admirable.
August 04, 2009
Schrader '10 Learning Many Facets of Business
Nathan Schrader '10 - Needless to say this has been a very diverse internship thus far. Because of its smaller size on the business scale, interning at the small parts producing Connecta Corporation has given me many different tasks.  I am not simply a handyman, a production manager, a marketing advertiser, or a shipping coordinator; I am a little bit of each of them, as are most people who work here. Alan Pyle, Wabash alum and owner of Connecta, created a hefty list for Mark Schultz (the other intern) and I to complete. Unlike some internships, there is obviously little time with nothing to do.
At times it is difficult because the two of us do not know what is needed to get started, and those who do are hard at work on their own projects. Hence we have about four of our own projects going at one time in order to be productive – we hit a brick wall in one and switch to another until we hit another wall, and hopefully can get some help by that time! But the internship in general has been very insightful as far as what is involved in a typical business. Phone calls, researching products, organizing files and tools: all things that nobody wants to spend each day doing but must at some point. When I stepped in the door on my first day, I was immediately put on the job of laying out the shop floor in order to make room for a new machine. The tape on the floor had to be exact, or else the machines would not fit, and you can’t move thousands of pounds machines very easily. I have ran errands around the busy Indianapolis (more complicated than Crawfordsville anyways), edited and redesigned flyers, and other things. But more than that I’ve also gotten to know the employees here, all caring people, which is what makes work more enjoyable. I can’t say I am getting all the technical experience I was hoping, but I do enjoy the challenge of unpredictability every single day and knowing that what I am doing here is making a difference and means something to the workings of the company.
Popovich '10 Learned More About Finance
Stephen Popovich ’10 – Thanks to the Eli Lilly Business Grant, I have had the world of personal finance introduced to me this summer by working at Raymond James and Associates in Valparaiso, Indiana. The internship has provided a vast opportunity for me to pursue my career interests, while incorporating the elements of my Economics major and Rhetoric minor into the daily work routine of a financial advisor.  Before starting this internship, I was not sure what to expect, as with many other internship positions. All I did know was that I hoped to use this internship to focus my interests into what I would actually like to do for a career, after my last year at Wabash. This position has given me insight into finance and has shown me that I could be happy doing something within this field for the rest of my life. One of the main things I like about financial advising is the client/advisor personal relationships. The advisors develop close relationships with their clients and over time, form friendships with them. This is refreshing to see because ethics and good will can still be found in an industry that has recently been taken aback through malicious acts by various people. That was one thing I was concerned about with getting into finance initially, but that worry has been alleviated. Also, the warm and welcoming environment by everyone in the office has only added to the advantages of the overall experience. Throughout the weeks I’ve been here, the advisors have kept me busy by working on different projects that helped them. For one advisor, I learned about the Raymond James provided advisor software and helped him run efficiency tests on client portfolios. This was very interesting because I was allowed to rummage through the vast combinations of mutual funds, stocks, bonds, anything finance, and build portfolios for clients based off of their age and risk preference, with a goal of outperforming their current portfolios. That was quite a neat experience. For another advisor, I was able to use my Wabash Economics Dept. Excel skills to create spreadsheets that allowed him to more easily manage his client databases. That also was interesting because he was impressed with how efficiently the software works and how easy it is to manipulate spreadsheets to do whatever he wanted. Those are just a few of the many things I have been doing here at Raymond James. As my time here winds down I have been assigned new tasks to help in the betterment of the entire branch. This mostly encompasses marketing techniques and investigating ways to update the branch’s technological framework. The marketing portion is great because I have to figure out ways to increase client inquires to the branch and think of advertising techniques that will appeal to people in the general area of Valparaiso. I’ve been having fun with this project because I have had experience with this through my Small Business Internship Fund internship in Chicago last summer. It is always nice to incorporate things I have learned outside of the classrooms with the things I have learned from Wabash professors. My time at Raymond James has been exactly what I was looking for. I am very thankful for this opportunity and for the privilege to work and learn from great people. This internship has left me excited and motivated to continue refining my career goals and to search for my “perfect job” in these next few months, although that job may not come right away. I have gotten a taste of the financial world and it has left me yearning for more. The generosity of the Lilly Business Grant and the perseverance of the Career Services Staff and Wabash Alumni have continuously given Wabash students opportunities to have life changing experiences and the ability to refine and incorporate their knowledge in real life situations. These types of programs are essential to the overall Wabash experience that has been acclaimed by so many and I, as well as many other students, will be forever grateful for the opportunities that were presented to us at this great institution.
McDougal '11 Learning Marketing Through IndyCar
Chris McDougal '11 - CARA Charities is a non-profit organization that works with the Indy Car series and the rest of the motorsport family. It is the series marketing, publicizing, and giving of itself. I am an intern at CARA this summer and I work with the Executive Director and long time CART employee Cathie Lyon. I am a huge fan of open- wheel racing and it has been a privilege as well as a great learning experience at CARA thus far. My first project at CARA was to help redesign its logo in order to more effectively represent the modern racing era.  During the month of May I was over at the track pretty much every day the drivers were there talking with them and their PRs about charity events that we put on during the month of May for charity. The biggest of these events was the CARA Fashion show which is one of the hottest tickets in Indianapolis during May besides the race of course.
Drivers, national celebrities, local celebrities, media personnel, etc model for the event which raises thousands of dollars that benefit Riley Hospital. My job for this was to market the fashion show on social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter; as well as provide any ideas to the board of directors about marketing our events to my generation. I was given a silver badge that got me in anywhere at the track in order to talk with the people that I got to work with which was awesome! Since the 500, I have been marketing and advertising on social networks, as well as help create a new website. I will also be going to a few more races in which we have events planned and help advertise those in the mean time. This has been one of the coolest experiences that I have had thus far. Through doing all of this I have learned a ton! Most relevant for me has been the importance of networking with as many people as possible and how important it is to establish relationships with those people you network with. I have been told that in sports marketing, it isn’t necessarily what you know but who you know and who knows you. That is not to take away from the importance of education in any way but it stresses the importance of establishing contacts. I have also begun to learn how to think in marketing. To ask myself questions like what group of people am I trying to reach?, how old are they?, where do they live?, what do they like? Etc. when I am working on something. Questions like these are used to in order to make a marketing strategy as effective as possible. I am also getting more familiar with the business aspect of motorsports and how big of a role business plays within a race team. I have learned so much in this internship and I have appreciated how broad it is because it has allowed me to “get a glimpse” if you will, of many different aspects of sports marketing. In the near future I will pursue other internships in more specific areas such as a race team to build off of my experiences at CARA which will hopefully lead to a career after college.
August 03, 2009
Brown '10 Interning at Nationally-Recognized Lab
Dan Brown ' 10 - For the second summer in a row I was provided with an opportunity to stay and work in Florida. When most people think of a summer in Florida they think of things such as beautiful beaches, relaxing vacations, maybe even a trip to Disney World. Well let me tell you it’s not all fun in the sun, Florida is also the home of cutting edge physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, materials science, and cryogenic research. It all happens at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University in Tallahassee where I am interning.  The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, or Mag Lab, is a unique laboratory that gives scientists the opportunity to perform experiments at cryogenic temperatures with high continuous magnetic fields. The facility features the world’s highest sustainable magnetic field of 45 Tesla and many other high field magnets. The equipment and facilities attract scientists from all over the world to come and do research. Now I know we are not all physics nerds like myself and by this point you may be done with this blog and its science jargon, but let me do my best to clarify what I’m talking about so you are able to see how sweet the Mag lab really is. The majority of the magnets at the lab are created using superconducting wires wrapped into a cylinder. Superconducting wires are special because they have no resistance once they are at cryogenic temperatures. By cryogenic temperatures I am talking about anywhere below 77 Kelvin (which is about -321 degrees Fahrenheit) which is kind of cold. A normal earth magnet that you use to hang your proud Wabash College report card on the fridge with is about 5 milli-Tesla (mT) and a junk yard magnet that picks up cars is roughly 1 Tesla. But the strength of a magnet is not just adding up magnets, it is proportional to the square of the field multiplied by the volume of the field. So time for me to blow your mind, this means that the 45 Tesla magnet is 8 trillion times stronger than a refrigerator magnet. I know….it’s sweet. When I arrived at the Mag lab I met with my advisor Dr. Stephen McGill who is the operator of the optics facility of the lab. He specializes in using laser beams to probe the properties of materials in high magnetic fields and at cryogenic temperatures. He assigned me the duty of restoring and performing a measurement with a probe that visiting scientist can use. I spent the last eight weeks working on cleaning and writing a program for the Magneto-optical Kerr Effect probe. It uses linear optics to probe the magnetization of a material using the Kerr Effect. With the Kerr Effect, light is incident on a sample and the reflected light is polarized proportional to the alignment of the magnetic moments. The probe I am working on shines a laser on a sample, and the amount the intensity of the reflected beam changes tells you how magnetic the sample is. After getting the probe in working condition, I performed an experiment using a 31 Tesla magnet and cooled it to 2 Kelvin. I looked at a sample of BaCuSi2O6 which has very interesting properties at high magnetic fields and low temperatures. The sample is non-magnetic until a field of 23 Tesla is applied, and then it becomes magnetic. More research is being done on this material because at 49 Tesla it becomes a Bose-Einstein condensate. My experiences at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have introduced me to scientific research on the graduate and professional level. I would like to thank Wabash College’s Physics department and the Center for Integrating Research and Learning for this internship opportunity. NOTE from the Laboratory: The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory’s prestigious Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program. The immersion-style physics and chemistry program includes students from all over the country. The eight-week research experience offers unique opportunities to explore science at the extremes of magnetic field, pressure and temperature at the home of the world's largest magnet. Students research contemporary science and engineering issues, working alongside some of the finest scientists, magnet designers and engineers in the world.
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