CE Boston: Intern Journal Entry Winners

Each summer at Career Explorations, interns are asked to write a journal entry detailing their internship experience. Some interns write about attending a memorable event such as an industry meeting or describe a meaningful conversations with an internship mentor, while others detail how the internship experience has affected future career or college plans. CE Staff select the most insightful entries and post excerpts here.

Congratulations to our Boston winners Morgan Conners and Chris Nugent!

Journal Entry Excerpt from Morgan Conners, Medical Intern:

Before my internship experience at Boston Medical Center, I was not familiar with the medical field. Although I have volunteered at my local hospital for the past two years I have never had an experience that allowed me to observe medical professionals interacting with patients and performing surgeries. The procedures that I witnessed have inspired me to work my hardest at becoming a doctor.

The first surgery I observed was a splenectomy. A 13 year old girl had a parasitic tumor on her spleen that required the whole organ to be removed. I had stood less than five feet away from the operating table when they made the first incision. Although the average person might faint at the sight of exposed blood and the organs that are typically hidden behind layers of skin I couldn’t help but be excited by the events unfolding in front of me. It wasn’t until the spleen had been completely removed that I realized I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the future.

Now when I get asked what my plans are from the future I can be confident in my response. I can say that in two years I will be graduating high school, in six I will be graduating college, in 10 I will be graduating medical school, and then in 15 years I will have completed my residency and will be moving onto my fellowship. Although this is a very basic outline for the next 15 years of my life I am pleased by the confidence that comes with it. I know that I will be a doctor during my lifetime and I know that I will be performing surgery in whatever specialty I have. I am very grateful for the internship that I have been giving as it has allowed me to find my ideal profession.

Journal Entry Excerpt from Chris Nugent, Finance Intern:
This summer I set out to explore the financial industry through an internship. However, I gained much more than just experience in the financial field, I got a sense of what building a company is like, and I saw how something begins as just a new and innovative ideas can be developed into a successful companies.

My summer internship was with a broker from PAM (Progressive Asset Management), a subsidiary of FinancialWest Group. PAM is a firm that specializes in socially responsible investing so they screen all stocks, bonds, and mutual funds they buy on behalf of clients to ensure those securities support companies that reflect good social values. My mentor has carefully built his business through innovative marketing and superb client relations, capitalized on the green movement by marketing PAM at various green investing conferences and other environmentally related events. By assisting in the planning of these events, I saw first hand all the groundwork that goes into developing a client base, the most crucial part of a financial firm.

In addition to that, I was responsible for researching companies that were considered for investment by the firm. In this research I learned a great deal about the new innovative companies that are popping up to solve issues in society. I learned to spot companies with promising business models and values that aligned with our customers. and I developed a sense of what it takes to identify investment-worthy small companies.

As a high school student I did not know what to expect of my internship experience. Fortunately, I was able to learn the value of marketing and client relations while at the same time gaining valuable experience in researching companies and buying stocks and securities. Through this internship I have grown; I have developed a better sense of the business world, which will be invaluable later on in life and in my career.