Steven Stark ’19: Smike Wallen Living – First, I would like to thank Wabash College and The Small Business Internship Fund for providing students like me this extraordinary opportunity to work for companies like Smike Wallen Living. For the past 5 weeks, I have worked for Smike Wallen ’90 and have been a part of the Smike Wallen Living Team. SWL is a small team of realtors, designers, and advisors that work with clients in and around the Greater Los Angeles area. The team works together to help ensure that their client’s goals are not just met but exceeded. I was joined with two other Wabash interns to assist and learn about their small, highly- successful business. Smike entrusted us with three significant projects, each contributing to a different part of the company. Even though we worked on each project as a team, each of us had our own unique skills to contribute.
I mostly contributed to the design aspects of SWL by designing postcards and mood boards, creating and executing a landscape design for apartment buildings, and having an artistic eye in interior design. Smike and Chad, both professionals, expanded my horizons in design for which I am grateful. The team also expanded my horizons by showing me parts of the business I have never experienced before. I had little experience about the real estate business coming into this internship. Now, I have learned what it takes to be financially self-sufficient by analyzing the professionals in their work environment and by completing hands-on projects in a real-life work experience.
Stark ’19 Enjoys a day off in Malibu
However, this internship has taught me far more than just work experience. Before landing my internship, I lived in Indiana my entire life. Now, I am living in a city full of diversity, 2,000 miles away from home. As a freshman, I thought that this possibility was far from my reach. I was wrong. I made the alumni connections, conducted my search fully, and finally earned the internship I was hoping for. This experience as a whole has allowed me to grow exponentially on both a professional level and on a personal one. I have gained the confidence and the experience that will guide my career path and shape my future. I am beyond grateful for the SWL team, the Small Business Internship Fund, and Wabash College for believing in me. I have learned to appreciate these things and I encourage students to not waste an opportunity.