2015 Summer Success Stories
10/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Student Services
Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@DemonDeacons)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest student-athletes spent the summer interning all over the world to prepare for their careers after graduation.
Sam Boesch
Volleyball
Senior
Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Internship: ABC of NC - Developmental School for children with autism
Industry: Education
Role: Help out with classroom needs, apply behavior modification techniques, play with the children and learn from experience.
Best Part of Internship: The welcoming environment from staff, parents, and the children, interaction with the children, trust to work with the kids from the staff, field trips, smiles from the kids, willingness from teachers and staff to help me learn and make my time there as beneficial as it could be, fun environment.
Something you learned: How to interact and apply behavior modification techniques. I also learned the children with Autism Spectrum Disorder are their own person and should never be defined by their condition.
Would you recommend this to other student-athletes: YES! If you are interested in helping others, if you love kids, or if you are interested in learning more about Autism Spectrum Disorder this is a great opportunity.
Will you continue to pursue this industry: Yes, I do not necessarily want to be a teacher in this setting, but I do want to work with children who have disabilities.
Final Thought: This experience has taught me a lot about myself and the career path I want to pursue. The children brought me so much joy every day and I would not change anything.
Anthony Delcore
Men's Tennis
Senior
Location: New York City
Internship: : Barclays Wealth & Investment Management
Industry: Financial Services
Role: Assisted the team in conducting due diligence on the 50 or so long-only, hedge fund, and private equity managers on the Barclays platform
Best Part of Internship: Had an incredible experience, learned so much about the quarterly review process that Barclays performs for all of the fund managers and also learned different investment thesis from the managers.
Would you recommend this to other student-athletes: : I would absolutely recommend this to another student-athlete that is interested in getting into finance, especially if they are interested in becoming a financial advisor or a role of that sort.
Will you continue to pursue this industry: I will be pursuing a career in finance, hopefully in investment banking or sales and trading.
Sophia Dodd
Volleyball
Junior
Location: Edinburgh, London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Amalfi Coast and Pompei
Internship: PEBL Wake Forest
Industry: Study Abroad Business Program
Role: Student
Best Part of Internship: It was extraordinarily interesting to see first-hand how corporations based in other countries differ culturally from those in the United States. It was also very helpful to see how the processes and concepts we were studying in our class were carried out in a real world scenario.
Something you learned: Parisians aren't actually rude to people from America. London has some of the best dim sum the world has to offer. If you're not a museum person, still go to the museums, they are incredibly interesting and full of many wonders. Barcelona is alive 24/7. Go watch the sunrise on the beach. Lemons in Capri are the size of a basketball. Finally, when you feel tired, embrace it and do your best to stay awake and explore the area you are in.
Would you recommend this to other student-athletes: Absolutely.
Final Thought:: I didn't know very many people on the trip. I loved getting to know all the different people that had decided to participate in PEBL. They have become some of my closest friends.
Kasey Gardiner
Women's Tennis
Senior
Location: Michigan
Internship: Plante Moran, LLP.
Industry: Public Accounting Firm
Role: Tax Intern with a focus in wealth management and wealth transfer.
Best Part of Internship: The first thing that comes to mind is the incredibly talented and knowledgeable people that I had the opportunity to learn from. The culture that Plante Moran encourages is one that made me feel comfortable and respected even though I was just an intern. I not only found a job that I liked in terms of content, but a place where I enjoyed going every day because of the down-to-earth people and the focus on work-life balance.
Something you learned: I learned that technical knowledge is only a small part of exceling in the workplace. If you are able to be both professional and personable, co-workers will want to work with you and you will get more opportunities. At the end of the day, people within a business want to have employees that can relate to clients and other employees, not just someone who can do the work. Intangibles are key.
Would you recommend this to other student-athletes: I would absolutely recommend exploring internships in whatever field you are interested in. So many of the skills that we learn as student-athletes translate into the workplace and you will quickly realize that you are already a step ahead of everyone else and can use those unique skills to make a real difference.
Will you continue to pursue this industry: : I plan to continue to pursue this industry. I initially planned on exploring internships in other cities at other accounting firms next summer, but my experience this summer at Plante Moran at home showed me that I want to end up there full time. I am going back to intern in the same position next summer, and I have also accepted a full-time offer for August 2017 after I complete my Masters in Accounting at Wake Forest.
Final Thought: I used to get caught up on things like ending up at the biggest firms with the most prestigious reputations and the most well-known clients. There's nothing wrong with wanting that, but I quickly realized that having a work-life balance was absolutely key to my happiness. So little of what a job is centers around the actual content of the work, so find a company with values that align with yours and with people that you enjoy being around because it makes all the difference in the world. So, my biggest advice is to figure out what is important to you and your awareness of this will lead you to the right place.
Ryan Janvion
Football
Senior
Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Internship:Inmar
Industry: Supply Chain, Promotions and Healthcare
Role: Supply Chain/remarketing Intern
Best Part of Internship: I loved the atmosphere of Inmar. People are very willing to help you and there are many valuable resources there to take advantage of. Inmar has a great internship program and take their interns seriously because they hope to hire the majority of the interns after they graduate from college. I also got to present to the CEO at the end of my internship and explain what I did over the summer and my suggestions for the company to improve.
Something you learned: I learned that I am capable of doing things that I would not think I could do through this internship. I realized that a lot of the skills I learned through my sport transfer over to the workplace and that you should not doubt what you are capable of doing.
Would you recommend this to other student-athletes: Definitely.
Final Thought:There are plenty of opportunities around Wake Forest for those that must be here over the summer for their sport. Reach out to career services to find out the many opportunities that are available in Winston-Salem. You will not regret it.
Caroline Wootten
Women's Soccer
Junior
Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Internship: A Step Ahead Academic Center
Industry: Education
Role: Administratve
Best Part of Internship: I liked talking with new clients and helping them to meet their needs. The company I worked with had so much to offer for a wide range of students, it was really exciting to introduce families to ASA and provide their kids with a better way to learn.
Something you learned: Would you recommend this to other student-athletes: Yes, I would definitely recommend this to other student-athletes. I never would have thought that I would be interested in the "behind-the-scenes" work at a small business but was pleasantly surprised. I was able to learn a lot about the industry and made some really good connections. These are things we could all benefit from.
Will you continue to pursue this industry: : I am definitely keeping this industry in mind for the future. I enjoy working with people and the fact that it truly was a different job every day I came into the office.
