Coming into this spring semester, I wasn’t very optimistic at landing a summer internship. I had been so busy with academics, football, and my extra curriculars that I had virtually no time to even look for an internship.
Ironically, I work for Wabash College’s Career Services department. I received an email from one of my employers at school letting me know about the final day to apply for the TechPoint Xtern internship. I’m nowhere near being a tech guy, so I was reluctant to apply for a marketing position knowing that I didn’t have any tech experience. Understanding that it was the last day to apply, I wasn’t expecting to receive any response at all. My thinking was that they had already selected the candidates. Surprisingly I received an email saying that I had advanced to the next round.
In this next round, I was tasked with creating a press release to showcase my capabilities as a marketing intern. This assignment that took me nearly 6 hours to complete. Perhaps that was too much time to put into it, but I’m naturally thorough when I work on projects that interest me. Also, I’m a huge overthinker which made me think twice about every word I wrote. This was nothing more than the perfectionist in me, a helpful yet problematic flaw. Despite my own self-doubt I received another email letting me know I would be moving on in the hiring process. At this point I was confident that I would be selected because I figured that once given an interview I can convince anyone that I am a good asset to their team, after all I am a Rhetoric major. And I did.
I was contacted by Christopher Daily of just to have a casual conversation about beLithe as a company. I wanted to know what agile training was first and foremost but also how to become apart of the company. Sure enough one conversation turned into another and sprouted into a summer position doing research and marketing. I was elated to have an internship at all after searching for the better part of the spring semester. It never actually hit me as to how important being an Xtern was until one of my superiors at work (Roland Morin) explained to me that only two Wabash students were selected to participate in this entire program. Hours before, I found out I would’ve been happy with any internship and knowing that I got something that very few people have is still sinking in for me. Knowing that I am one of two students selected I made it a personal goal to represent Wabash well. I expect to be challenged and I am looking forward to the uncomfortable parts of this summer that will help me grow. I’ve been given the opportunity to work in a unique space with a unique company and make unique connections which I’ve been able to realize on my first day of work this summer.
Andrew
Andrew Tandy is a Junior Trainer plying his wares at beLithe. Andrew will start his senior year at Wabash College this fall.
Leave a Reply