Austin Ellingwood ’18 enFocus Consulting Intern– I am working at enFocus this summer, which is a small consulting firm located in South Bend, Indiana. Me, as well as the other 15 interns, work at the Union Station Technology Center, where there is a nationally known data center that relays tons of information every day. I am working on the largest enFocus project yet, which is the St. Joseph County property tax project. I am doing an analysis of the various influence factors that go into the assessment of residential properties in St. Joseph County. In this analysis, I have honed my skills in excel, learned much about project management, and I have actually used python very frequently to further my data analysis.

My secondary project is another big one for enFocus, but this one is Pro bono. In my secondary project, I am working alongside 3 other interns to figure out why the enrollment of South Bend Community Schools has declined so much over the past 10 or so years. We have looked at a number of factors, including race, socioeconomic status, grade of school, and geographic location in South Bend. We will be reporting on our data to the South Bend Community School Corporation in the final week here.

This internship has really broadened my horizons on job searches after school. Since I am a rising senior, I really need to be on the lookout for opportunities. Because of my experience here at enFocus, I have looked into many Data Science roles, instead of strictly looking for software jobs. I believe that data science would be a fun and interesting field to go into, especially since it is still growing. Many companies are hiring for these positions, and I believe enFocus has aided me in preparing for a position like this, as well as opened my eyes to opportunities in that field.

I would like to thank the Lilly Endowment for giving me this wonderful opportunity! This internship has been eye-opening, and has really changed my perspective on consulting firms, and non-profit work as a whole. I have looked into other consulting firms because of the interesting experience I have had here. None of this would have been possible without the Lilly Endowment providing me with the opportunity to work here!

I have had an amazing summer with great Wabash guys here in South Bend, and have received valuable experience that many others have never gotten. I have worked on two very important projects that will have a large effect on enFocus’s future.

Luke Rowles ’19 Huntbridge, Inc –First and foremost, I would like to thank Wabash College and the Lilly Endowment for the opportunity to grow both personally and professionally this summer as an associate at Huntbridge, Inc. I would be remiss if I did not take the time to thank my boss, Jeff Perkins ’89, as well. Each day working for him is a unique and rewarding challenge. He demands excellence, pushing me to go above and beyond; for that, I am grateful.

Huntbridge, Inc. is an executive search firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. As the Founder and CEO, Mr. Perkins has done business with notable companies: Amazon, Cisco, Discovery, NPR, and Microsoft – just to name a few. As a result, he has a powerful and diverse network of which I have had the privilege of utilizing. These are priceless connections that I would not have gained without this internship.

As an associate at an executive search firm, each day is a little different. Our primary client this summer has been Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (David Broecker ’83). We have been working diligently to fulfill their roles of Senior Vice President of Development & Partnerships and Director of Research Operations. This involves networking, screening and interviewing candidates, and a lot of behind-the-scenes work in order to present the best of the best to our client.

Beyond our current search, business development has been a critical component of my daily routine. I am responsible for cultivating relationships and bringing more business through the door. Through extensive research, I find companies that have open executive positions. By leveraging our network, I find a contact and reach out to them; cold calls, cold emails, and LinkedIn messages. I introduce myself and our company, express my interest in their company and their open position, and explain how we can help. Outside of executive searches, we also perform large staff-ups, which is when a company has multiple lower-level positions to fill. This usually happens when a company opens a new facility or moves their headquarters, and it involves a similar outreach process.

As a result of my efforts, there is promising potential for future business with two Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, I am writing a speech for Mr. Perkins on the future of technology and executive search, which has been an arduous and fascinating task.

This experience has been invaluable in many regards. As a college student, the future can be intimidating. You are worried about many things: Did I choose the right major? Am I on the right career path? Is this what I want to do with my life?

First and foremost, I would like to thank Wabash College and the Lilly Endowment for the opportunity to grow both personally and professionally this summer as an associate at Huntbridge, Inc. I would be remiss if I did not take the time to thank my boss, Jeff Perkins ’89, as well. Each day working for him is a unique and rewarding challenge. He demands excellence, pushing me to go above and beyond; for that, I am grateful.

Huntbridge, Inc. is an executive search firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. As the Founder and CEO, Mr. Perkins has done business with notable companies: Amazon, Cisco, Discovery, NPR, and Microsoft – just to name a few. As a result, he has a powerful and diverse network of which I have had the privilege of utilizing. These are priceless connections that I would not have gained without this internship.

As an associate at an executive search firm, each day is a little different. Our primary client this summer has been Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (David Broecker ’83). We have been working diligently to fulfill their roles of Senior Vice President of Development & Partnerships and Director of Research Operations. This involves networking, screening and interviewing candidates, and a lot of behind-the-scenes work in order to present the best of the best to our client.

Beyond our current search, business development has been a critical component of my daily routine. I am responsible for cultivating relationships and bringing more business through the door. Through extensive research, I find companies that have open executive positions. By leveraging our network, I find a contact and reach out to them; cold calls, cold emails, and LinkedIn messages. I introduce myself and our company, express my interest in their company and their open position, and explain how we can help. Outside of executive searches, we also perform large staff-ups, which is when a company has multiple lower-level positions to fill. This usually happens when a company opens a new facility or moves their headquarters, and it involves a similar outreach process.

As a result of my efforts, there is promising potential for future business with two Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, I am writing a speech for Mr. Perkins on the future of technology and executive search, which has been an arduous and fascinating task.

This experience has been invaluable in many regards. As a college student, the future can be intimidating. You are worried about many things: Did I choose the right major? Am I on the right career path? Is this what I want to do with my life? In my opinion, the best way to answer these questions, to become confident in your future (and yourself), is to take advantage of every opportunity that you can. Get outside of your comfort zone. Explore and learn and grow. As Albert Einstein said, “A ship is always safe at the shore, but that is not what it is built for.”

I’ll be honest and admit that this is not the career for me. I am not disheartened, though, because this just means that I’ve narrowed down my options; I am now one step closer to finding the career that is for me. Furthermore, this internship has provided me with great memories, enriched skills, and an upgraded network. It has taught me how to budget and live on my own. It has shown me what it takes to survive in the business world. It has reinforced the importance of building meaningful relationships. These are all things that will pay dividends in the future.

Wabash College is unrivaled in her ability to turn men into skilled sailors, and I am proud to call myself a Little Giant.

I want to do with my life? In my opinion, the best way to answer these questions, to become confident in your future (and yourself), is to take advantage of every opportunity that you can. Get outside of your comfort zone. Explore and learn and grow. As Albert Einstein said, “A ship is always safe at the shore, but that is not what it is built for.”

I’ll be honest and admit that this is not the career for me. I am not disheartened, though, because this just means that I’ve narrowed down my options; I am now one step closer to finding the career that is for me. Furthermore, this internship has provided me with great memories, enriched skills, and an upgraded network. It has taught me how to budget and live on my own. It has shown me what it takes to survive in the business world. It has reinforced the importance of building meaningful relationships. These are all things that will pay dividends in the future.

Wabash College is unrivaled in her ability to turn men into skilled sailors, and I am proud to call myself a Little Giant.

Kyle Warbinton ’20 Thorntown Public Library and Heritage Museum – I have spent the summer working in Thorntown, Indiana, and, in doing so, I truly have broadened my experience in life, let alone work. Thorntown holds a quaint population of around 1,500 people. I’m from a large suburb of Chicago so this was definitely a culture shock to me. I was very apprehensive in coming to a new work environment where I thought the people would be completely different than myself.

My worries were wasted time. The staff at the Thorntown Public Library and Heritage Museum welcomed me as if I was a new family member. What made my work so enjoyable this summer came in large part from the environment that the company creates in the workplace. Everyone looks to help others in their projects, and this is a reciprocating act. If there was one lasting piece of my time in Thorntown that I value the most, even more than the tangible experience I gained in my actual work, is the community created by the staff. I believe that I will be able to exercise this teamwork and kindness in future jobs to build strong workplaces and in turn, better business.

As far as my responsibilities, I created multiple brochures for the museum, and different departments of the company. My original brochure that I made for the museum and its displays was good enough that the staff wanted me to make as many for other departments as I could before my internship ended. This was a gratifying experience as I got to see my work in tangible use by the library and museum. I also used PastPerfect software to catalog museum artifacts which was a very interesting and engaging part of my work.

The most challenging responsibility of my internship was being the project coordinator for the Museum’s inaugural potluck, picnic, and concert. In dealing with contacting and working with our performer for the concert and making sure that all things needed for the event were either done or procured, I ran into a few problems. Our performer, who we had signed a contract with us two months in advance, told us a week before the event that she could not perform due to a family emergency. We had to scramble to find a performer, and we did just 2 days before the event. In a full analysis, the event and the process was enlightening in terms of all that went wrong. It was great to get experience dealing with adversity and still coming through strong.

In a turn of events, the staff of the library and museum realized during my time there that the roof of the museum needed to be replaced due to its age. This gave me an opportunity to write grant applications for the new roof. This responsibility was stressful but rewarding due to its magnitude. The company will use my grant applications in hopes to obtain funding for the new roof over the coming year.

Through working at the Thorntown Public Library and Heritage Museum, I have gained invaluable experiences for my career. I also gained a family in small-town Indiana. I would like to thank the Lilly Endowment and Wabash College for making this opportunity available to me, without them, I would not have had such a great summer internship.

Michael Parks ’18 Timmy Global Health – My main projects during my internship at Timmy Global Health were keeping trip payments from volunteers updated, creating excel sheet for tracking chapter donations from their partner colleges across the country, creating a financial analysis of trip incomes versus expenses, and miscellaneous task.

I came into this internship with an open mind which I think worked out well in the end. I could not have guessed meeting the people I met, learning the skills I learned, and having the responsibilities I had. Something I wish I had gotten more exposure to was getting more experience in personal finances and dealing with people directly in regard to finances. I received adequate direction throughout my time at Timmy Global. My supervisor, Julia Anderson, scheduled weekly meetings with me which helped me a lot with staying on task and being efficient in my work. There were rarely times where I did not have any direction on what to do. I was mostly busy during my entire internship which will prepare me for life after college.  The biggest contribution I felt I had during my internship was creating the trip income tracking spreadsheet. This sheet will help keep chapter (college) income organized and update these efficiently and in a timely manner for many years down the road. Knowing that TGH will be benefitted for a long time is a great feeling given that I was only there for 8 weeks.

My favorite part about TGH is the people I worked with. Everyone was so welcoming when I first arrived and I did not feel uncomfortable at all during my entire time. Being able to work with people who have passion for what they do is very refreshing to see. Although working at TGH is hard and frustrating at times, not once did I encounter a disgruntled employee. I believe that is something special to have within an organization or team; I will always admire that about the Timmy Global Health staff. One aspect truly central to my experience at TGH was that my voice was heard. Being just a college student, I was allowed to voice my opinion and give input on projects.

I would like to thank the Lilly Endowment for making this opportunity happen for me. This internship will help me develop my career as I start looking forward to life after college.

Mitchell Krum ’18 Apex Benefits – As the Marketing and Communications Intern at Apex Benefits in Indianapolis, I received an all-encompassing education in the field of employee benefits through my site host, Scott Long. I’m extremely thankful to the Lilly Endowment for making this venture possible.

In my first week, Scott and a colleague sat down with me in front of a white board where they drew and explained the complex world of employee benefits. After getting an overview of all areas pertinent to managing and lowering the cost of employee benefits like population health, compliance, market analysis, wellness programs, finance, marketing, and sales and sitting in on client services, market analysis, and sales team meetings, the education led to more understanding. I attended lunches with my supervisor and multiple clients and sat in on a meeting with Apex client Arlington/Roe. These meetings allowed me to observe people and relationships in a real world and professional setting as well as allowing me to connect with business professionals. I quickly learned more about how to conduct myself and talk to others in a professional manner.

I have worked on multiple marketing projects throughout my internship. I created a few PowerPoint presentations for internal and external use, which sharpened my skills in that program. I also learned to use Hootsuite in order to create and schedule LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter posts for release in social media campaigns, and learned to use Canva in order to create images to attach to the posts. The largest project I took part in – the project I had the most involvement in as well – was starting The Point, Apex Benefits’ new podcast. Before the launch, I had to come up with a podcast structure by listening to other professional podcasts and determine the structure best suited for us. I also had to research equipment, use of music and sound effects without copyright issues, and publishing platforms we could use. I came up with a recording schedule that worked with multiple interviewees, recorded the interviews, wrote and recorded intros and outros, and wrote episode descriptions. I was able to learn how to start a podcast from the ground up, which is a great thing to know as they are becoming more and more popular. I am proud to say that The Point received close to 900 downloads in less than a month.

Apex has taught me a lot about marketing, but it also taught me about different facets of professional life. I’ve learned how a less hectic work environment makes for more productive and happy employees. I’ve also learned how stepping out to help the community once a while can be helpful for employee morale along with those who need it.

*At Holy Family Shelter during community day, an annual day where the office is shut down and we go do community service for various organizations

Austin Hoover ’19 Choice Wellness Company – My internship this summer is with Choice Wellness Company. This eight-week internship has provided me with great lessons that I will take with me into future employment. I am very grateful that I was able to get this internship and experience a professional workplace environment through the generosity of the Lilly Endowment.

Some of the main projects I have worked on are organizing receipts into spreadsheets to track spending, creating ad campaigns through different websites such as Facebook and Mailchimp, setting up and working in a booth promoting the company at health fairs, and networking with different companies at different venues to promote Choice Wellness Company to land more business. As a first time intern, I was unsure of what to expect. However, I was able to learn different new things and enjoy in the process by keeping an open mind to new ideas. This internship also taught me how to work and finish projects without supervision. If Chenel, my boss, was out of town I would have to finish my projects without supervision, which taught me how to stay on task and do what needed to get done. I was very busy during this internship which will help me with life after college. The biggest impact I felt I had during my internship was creating an ad campaign for a wellness event that the company was hosting. This campaign helped the event get more publicity and because of that more people were able to show up. The people I worked with at Choice Wellness Company were very nice and helpful with whatever I needed. This was my favorite part of my internship, getting to interact with other employees and help each other out. It was nice to get the interactions with other employees because after college I will have these interactions everyday and will know how to have them in a professional workplace setting.

The most important part of my internship was that my opinion mattered. Whenever there were discussions about important matters my boss always asked my opinion and what I thought the company should do, which was empowering. Overall the company was very helpful with any questions I had and they always had work for me to do so I was always busy. This experience is one I will remember and help me for a long time after college.

Anthony Eley ’19 Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County – This summer I have had the great opportunity to intern at the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County. It has been quite the experience for me and one that will benefit me both as a student and as I prepare for my post-college life. Over the summer, I have gotten to learn how a small museum works, not just with designing exhibits and the day to day operations of the museum, but also how it works with other museums and partners in the community, which is a vital part of running the museum and succeeding.

At the end of June, we held ten events in in a week to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the museum. We had paint parties and an open mic night, hosted the Girl Scout stem van to teach local kids about the different types of energies, and a host of other events that brought in people of all ages from all around the community to help celebrate the anniversary. Assisting in these events allowed me to work outside my comfort zone and realize how important this museum is to the community and the broad support it receives. Along with this, I have been working on several individual projects. My main project this summer has been creating an exhibition on the history of the Fire Departments of Montgomery County. I have been looking at historical documents, contacting the local Fire Departments from around Montgomery County, locating artifacts for the exhibit, and working with the curator to plan and set up the exhibit. Having never done this before, it was an amazing experience. Having to gather information from so many different sources and working with the curator on figuring out what we wanted the message of the exhibition to be and narrowing down so much information to one exhibition were some of the most interesting things about this project. Along with working on the exhibition, I have helped with our summer program, helped with creating a document detailing the mural in the museum, and researched and made suggestions for future exhibitions. Having worked at another completely different small museum, this has been a great way to diversify my experience in museums. I love history and being able to interact with it daily and help communicate the stories that history has to tell us.

I am very thankful to the Lilly Endowment for enabling me to a wonderful experience. I am glad that the Carnegie Museum and Wabash College have this internship partnership and I hope to see it continue for many years to come.

William Bernhardt ’19 Archon Tech Strategies – I remember the description of my internship posting on WabashWorkswhich discussed how the CEO wore a lot of hats and performed many tasks within a company.  After reading it, I wondered what being a CEO to a company actually entails.  For a small business like Archon Tech Strategies (6 employees including my fellow intern Steven Stark and me), I was truly astonished with how much Tony Unfried ‘03 takes on.  Owning multiple businesses while being involved in several others is a ton of work.  I have just finished my sixth week here at Archon Tech Strategies and the experience has been different than what I had expected it to be.

Going into my internship I expected to work with the technological and business aspects of the company.  However, that is but a small fraction of what I have been doing until now.  Being able to intern for and witness a small business’s operation has shown me the variety of work that comes with any given day.  From creating electronic forms to starting a marketing campaign or updating the company’s website to working in sales, being an intern for Tony and Archon Tech has been a well-rounded learning experience.  I feel as if I have worn a hat for every aspect of a small business, including specialized hats for setting up security cameras and painting a trailer.

The environment during my internship has been very Wabash-esque, which makes sense because four out of the six of us – bar Katie and Angela – are Wabash men.  The feeling doesn’t stem from just attending Wabash. I believe Wabash has instilled in us a way of life, one where we strive to learn and take on as much as we can.  Watching Tony and Brian Wittman ’16 apply the lessons learned during their time at Wabash in the “real world” gave me a sense of how I can do the same. They strive to better themselves each day and are constantly learning new things, and that is what I did my best to do this summer.  I didn’t just improve on one skill over these past couple of weeks.  I learned new skills that I had zero experience in and improved on multiple other ones.

Interning at a small company such as Archon Tech makes you feel that the work you do is important not just to you, but also to the company.  It has been great meeting new people and learning all about how a small business operates.  It goes without saying, but I want to thank the Lily Endowment Fund and Wabash College for providing me with the opportunity to grow my professional career.