My Summer 2026 internship is through an academic internship program called The Fund for American Studies. The program was made possible for me through the sponsorship of the Stephenson Institute. Therefore, I am thankful to the Stephenson Institute for this transformative experience.
As a participant of the program, I was able to live and intern in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., during its 250th anniversary of Independence Day. I interned at the Southeastern Chamber of Commerce in their West Ashley, SC, and DMV divisions. Also, I took an economics course, Economies in Transitions, at George Mason University (Arlington campus) as a part of the program. Through this experience, I have learned how a chamber of commerce can assist small businesses. My role teaches me business development tasks, such as building prospect leads, CRM, and cold calling. Also, I have done a handful of operational/administrative tasks such as planning events, analyzing members and events data, and handling members’ records. Moreover, I taught myself how to use MembershipWorks, a new Chamber-management platform with no prior institutional adoption, and led its integration into the Chamber’s workflow. Although these tasks may not seem to fit in my Financial Mathematics major or long-term career goal in finance, they teach me the basic office tasks, office software, such as CRM platforms and Excel, and, most importantly, the ability to self-learn at a working place.
I also want to highlight the Wabash connections in the DMV area. During my time in D.C., I was lucky to meet and talk to a lot of Wabash alumni. They are amazing people who give great advice and are fun to talk with. Collectively, the Wabash Club of DMV hosted two happy-hour events that gathered the alumni in the region to talk to the Wabash interns in D.C. Aside from those general events, I was able to connect with several alumni on a more personal level through dinners and coffee chats. If you are ever in D.C. or look forward to working in D.C., just send them a message on LinkedIn or Instagram. They will be more than happy to chat with you!
