Category Archives: Winter Term Student Reports (2009)

Ironpond Film Investment Management Co.

Fengxue Zhu, 2011

I have always been interested in Asia-Pacific film production especially the business side. I have developed more interest in the producing and financing of high quality films with my studies in economics. In the past, I had some experience in film festivals and China Film Group. I hope to obtain more knowledge about film producing and financing aspect through a winter internship.

Ironpond Film Investment Management Co.ltd is a China/US based entertainment company with bilingual management founded by Teddy Zee. A former executive of Paramount and Columbia, Teddy Zee was the producer for Pursuit of Happiness and Hitch. I met him the first in Shanghai International Film Festival and his speech about the future of international co-production and his vision about China-Hollywood cooperation really excited me.

Mr. Ji, a former executive for Walt Disney Pictures China contacted me after I submitted my resume. I was informed that the company, in partnership with several ventures such as China Film Foundation, China Film Co-production Corporation, Peking University Finance Research Institute, and Rocks Capital, just starts up a sub company named National Film Capital. It specializes in film private equity fund management. This is the first company of its kind in China. Mr. Ji had a graduate degree from USC and had many distribution experiences with Hollywood productions in China. He says that this is a promising area to explore and he would like to place me in this new company.
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Cosmopolitan Magazine

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Cosmopolitan Magazine

Lindsay Amir Wright, 2010

I applied to Cosmopolitan Magazine through a website called ed2010.com. I discovered the website through a google search for fashion internships. I have always had a strong appreciation for fashion and photography through magazines and I have had previous experience in the fashion industry. I have had two jobs in the past at retail establishments. In the summer of 2008 I interned at Tuleh as a general fashion intern and I was able to see the production of a complete fashion collection from the beginning with the thought process to production, and finally Fashion Week. By working as a fashion intern at Cosmopolitan Magazine. I was interested in experiencing the advertising and marketing techniques of the fashion industry.
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Merrill Lynch

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Merrill Lynch

Ben Winter, 2010.5

During my internship, I feel that I performed up to the expectations that were expected of me. Although I wanted to do more financially related activities, I played as a team member in the group and did daunting tasks such as comprising lists of clients for the financial advisors and preparing, labeling and stuffing envelopes to send out to new prospective clients. I was always on time to work and did everything that was asked of me to do. Moreover, I was able to successfully handle tasks that required more intellectual capability such as using Morningstar and sifting through transaction reports to find pertinent information. While at my internship, I was also able to create several important relationships that will help me if I ever want to enter into the private wealth management area of the financial world. I was offered a position for this summer, which I am unsure if I am going to take. Given the current climate however, I think that I may be forced to take this opportunity even if it is not exactly what I would like to be doing this summer.
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La Obra SocioTeatral, Chile

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La Obra SocioTeatral

Lili Weckler, 2010

Theatre in the Chilean Street

My month with La Obra SociotÈatral of ConcepciÛn, Chile, was a hands-on experience of full incorporation. La Obra is a theatre company focused on performances intended to inspire social discourse and action. While I was in ConcepciÛn, I joined the company for a tour of small, poor towns in the ConcepciÛn area, where people have no access to or means by which to see theatre performances. The play in which I performed is called Zapata y la Rabia del Pueblo. It is about a man who travels around South America with a band of three musicians, running into problems such as poverty, hopelessness, negative Western influence, and Globalization.

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Vermont Frost Heaves

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Vermont Frost Heaves

Rosalind Vara, 2010

Throughout the course of January I worked for the Vermont Frost Heaves, doing a variety of different writing assignments as needed. The Frost Heaves are a professional basketball in their third season in Vermont. Alex Wolff, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated and a resident of Cornwall, Vermont established the team in 2005 and worked as the team’s General Manager and public relations liaison until this season when he began to distance himself from the team in an effort to do more work at SI. With Alex less involved the team needed someone who could write large portions of the team’s yearbook, in addition to game previews and summaries – this became my internship. I was able to complete the work from campus and communicated with my supervisor through emails and the telephone.

During the internship I wrote three different types of articles for the team’s website and yearbook. Much of the work I did was in the form of player and coach biographies for the yearbook and website. These pieces required research from a variety of online databases as well as communication with both the player and the team’s head coach. Much of the information used for the biographies was found in NCAA archives, college websites and databases like www.eurobasket.com or www.asiabasket.com – websites that contain statistics and information about players who played overseas in Europe (www.eurobasket.com), Asia (www.asiabasket.com) or South American (www.sabasket.com). The biographies were only about three hundred words each, and are posted online on the team’s website (www.vermontfrostheaves.com) and printed in their yearbooks.

I also did some other short pieces for the yearbook, including a “Where are they now?” component where I conducted research online to find where former Frost Heave players were now. I used online databases to figure out if they were playing overseas or with another professional basketball team, or like some, had retired and held other jobs.

In addition to player and coach biographies I also wrote many of the team’s game summaries. Unfortunately my own basketball schedule at Middlebury College conflicted with a few Frost Heave games, so I was unable to cover all of them. When I was assigned a game, I watched the webcast on the team’s website and in addition to taking my own notes, I utilized the live-statistics feature on the league’s website. Following the conclusion of the game I had 20-30 minutes to file the story and send an email to my supervisor, the team’s general manager, Mike Healey. Mike would then read over the piece, make editorial changes, post the summary on the team’s website and send it out to local media. The summaries were part press release, part newspaper article as they had to be appropriate for the website, and for local newspapers as well.

Finally I was also in charge of writing some game previews that were printed in game day publications available at the games and a few of which were published online. These were simple, concise articles comprised of information gathered from the opponents website.

After completing my internship I realized that the work I produced was much less important than the connections I made and the relationships I built with Alex Wolff and Mike Healey. When I graduated from high school I knew there were two possible career paths for me – journalism, whether it had to do with sports or not, and some sort of environmental profession involving field work. For the past two summers I have worked for the park service conducting field research and this fall I realized that I hadn’t done anything to increase my journalism prospects. This internship was essential in establishing connections and references in the world of journalism.

That said, the assignments, while basic, also expanded my horizons in a journalism sense. While I have written extensively for Vermont newspapers I have never written anything on such a tight deadline. It takes a different approach to cover a game and then file in 20 minutes – one that requires you write and summarize the game in your head almost before it is complete. In addition, writing player biographies also poses a certain challenge, as they must be concise, creative and informational, and only a few hundred words.

I do wish that I had been more involved with the website as Alex Wolff and I had discussed in our initial meeting. However, I also realized that because I was only going to be around for such a short portion of their season it didn’t really make sense to teach me everything. Perhaps had I been able to work with them for a longer period of time I could have been more involved with the inner workings of the system. Additionally, it was frustrating that my personal basketball schedule conflicted with many of Vermont’s games and thus I was forced to watch all the games online and was never actually able to attend them in person.

Overall, the internship was definitely a worthwhile experience, I only wish that it could have been longer and thus I could have gotten more involved. I was amazed at how much leeway Mike and Alex gave me and how much they trusted my ability to complete the articles they assigned and how understanding they were of my basketball schedule and academic commitments.

Contact the Career Services Office for more information on this internship.

Middlebury Animal Hospital

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Middlebury Animal Hospital

R. Emerson Tuttle, 2009

Last winter term I acted as an intern with the New England Aquarium, and I worked with the Penguin Colony. I was introduced to the practices of animal care and husbandry, but my interest was peaked by the interaction of the birds with the veterinarian. I am interested in the veterinary field, and would love to work with exotic animals at an institution similar to the New England Aquarium. As this year is my senior year, I wanted to stay on campus for my January Term. At the same time, I wanted to explore veterinary practices, so I opted to intern at a local small animal veterinary practice – the Middlebury Animal Hospital.

At the Middlebury Animal Hospital, I was free to come and go as I pleased, so ultimately this internship was what I made it to be. My schedule was four days a week (Monday-Thursday), and I typically arrived at 8:00am and departed for the day at 4:30-5:00pm. When my assistance was needed after that time or there was an interesting appointment scheduled or procedure to take place, I stayed on to help. The hours were standard, although business was not always typical: some days would be full of appointments, whereas others were sparsely scheduled. Any student taking place in an internship at the Middlebury Animal Hospital has the opportunity to make the best of an amazing opportunity while scheduling his or her own hours.

A typical day ran as follows – I would observe surgeries in the mornings (spays, neuters, hernia repairs, tumor removals, cystotomies, etc.). I would help in what manner I could to prep patients for surgery, which included inserting a peripheral intravenous catheter, injecting the animal with a sedative, shaving the surgery site, and cleaning the site thereafter. Aiding in surgery mainly involved observation, but I also learned invaluable lessons of the sterile technique. After surgery I would head off to lunch when I was free, and returned to help in office visits. The animals seen at the hospital are mainly composed of cats and dogs, and the occasional rabbits or rats, but they will see birds and reptiles if need be.

Though I was not capable in assisting in many procedures because I was completely new to the field, I did aid in whatever way I could. Some days that consisted of cleaning, taking animals outside, and reorganizing shipments of medications or food. Other times it meant I would restrain an animal for a doctor, would help calm an animal that was being restrained, or would administer certain injections. Broadly, the techniques I learned were: administration of intramuscular and intravenous injections, insertion of peripheral intravenous catheters, how to draw blood from the jugular and saphenous veins, how to restrain animal of all sizes, how to administer and monitor isoflurane anesthesia, general care of animals including nail and hair trimmings, and how to read ultrasound images and radiograph films. The staff was very helpful and wanted me to engage in these activities. They were always encouraging in their teachings, even if it took me more than one try. I was always eager to try new things, though some of them were very nerve-racking. I did not want to upset any animal, and if something was not working I would let a veterinarian take over to reduce stress. I now feel comfortable that I could be a good veterinary assistant at any small animal practice.

Some of the drawbacks to life as a veterinarian are the difficult decisions you have to help pet owners through. For example, when is it time to put an animal down? It is not the doctor’s decision, but I feel it is appropriate for the doctor to give their opinion of every situation. There were many instances when cancer was present in an animal and it had most likely metastasized. The veterinarian’s role was to talk the owner through the options – did it really make sense to put an animal through surgery? Did it make sense to put it down right away, or to wait until worse symptoms arose? What it really came down to in many instances was an analysis of the animal’s quality of life. Not only will it help me with my own animals in the future, but also with patients in the future, whether they are at a zoo/aquarium or a local practice.

I also found difficulty in the fact that money is always an issue in the decision making process. Ultimately the veterinary field is a business, and one must make a living. Unfortunately an animal’s health cannot always come first if there is no one to account for the payment of a surgery. There was one instance when a dog came in that went into cardiac arrest. We did our best to resuscitate it (and did so), but we could not stay overnight to care for the animal. If the owner’s had had enough money, they should have taken it to an emergency clinic, but that was not the case. Eventually the animal passed away, which was sad to see, but was an educational experience that I will value to have under my belt in future instances of ailing animals.

At the practice I accumulated over 125 hours of direct experience. As a student I wanted to try out the veterinary world before applying to veterinary school. Now that I have seen what life is like as a veterinarian, I am planning on matriculating into veterinary school in the fall of 2010. I feel confident in my skills and think that the veterinarians at the Middlebury Animal Hospital would be happy to write me a recommendation. My overall experience was a wonderful one. I loved the people I worked with based on the amazing atmosphere of the business, and I learned numerous techniques that will aid me in my future in the veterinary career. I would suggest this to any student who wants to remain on campus while still exploring if the veterinary field is right for them.

Contact the Career Services Office for more information on this internship.

Realizing Rights: The Ethical Global Initiative

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Realizing Rights: The Ethical Global Initiative

Elizabeth Sutcliffe, 2010

As an intern at Realizing Rights, a global health policy organization founded by Mary Robinson in 2002 (former Prime Minister of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights), I was directly exposed to the mechanisms in which health policy is decided upon, written and implemented. I concentrated my work on Realizing Right’s MLI project: the Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health. MLI was focused upon providing technical assistance towards health reform to Ministries of Health in the countries of Mali, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Nepal and Ethiopia. The three components of MLI are reproductive health, equity in health financing and donor harmonization. I was asked to research and write 3 key fact sheets on these components, which were edited by both my supervisor and a member of the senior staff. I spent the majority of time conducting research on the status of reproductive health in Mali and Sierra Leone, in which I completed two papers analyzing Letters of Interest the two countries, had submitted to Realizing Rights the last week of January, requesting additional technical assistance for improving reproductive health. I have been assured that the information I have provided in these papers is valuable and applicable to the current situation MLI faces in choosing which country to provide funds to.

Additionally, I was given the task to compile a master health contact list of all of Realizing Right’s connections with health policy workers throughout the world. I organized this list by country and it will prove to be an invaluable resource for the organization. Also, I was responsible for helping in the preparation for a conference Realizing Rights is hosting in Oslo, Norway on February 3-4th for their other project: developing a code for Health Worker Migration (in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO)). I mailed out meeting materials to far-flung countries, translated and wrote biographies on attendees who came from West African French speaking countries, put together a list on hotel accommodations, and checked visa statuses of the attendees.

Midway in January I had the opportunity to attend a forum on Reproductive Rights in light of the incoming Obama Administration at the Center for American Progress in DC. I attended this debate with two staff members: my supervisor and senior staff member who used to head Planned Parenthood. The debate itself was lukewarm in terms of rhetoric. The conversation I got to have afterward with the senior staff member was quite memorable and influential towards my thoughts and motivations for focusing my career in women’s health.

I loved working at Realizing Rights. I was surprised that I would find an office atmosphere so enjoyable but the organization is truly filled with wonderful people and is located in the larger context of the famed Aspen Institute at the heart of the District. I entered my internship skeptical about the role of policy in global health. I had spent a semester studying global health at Georgetown University and had become committed to doing hands-on work instead of policy work for global health. I plan to become a nurse practitioner after Middlebury. However, at Realizing Rights I have become of the opinion that in an office is where it all begins, hand-on work cannot be carried out without the infrastructure built by policy. Overall, I have found my work on MLI to be exciting and engaging and I am reluctant to leave. I hope to return soon to Realizing Rights in some capacity, whether it is through free intern work or after I graduate during my doing post-baccalaureate study at Georgetown University before I enter nursing school.

In the United States, Washington D.C. is where global health policy is being made. I feel that my internship this January term has been an invaluable exposure to the inner workings of global health policy and the buzz that exists in D.C. I learned that office work can be quite enjoyable and is not all doom, gloom and carpal tunnel syndrome. Free coffee, an intimate working environment with six amazing staff members, a happening building in a happening location, and stimulating work on global health and reproductive health in Africa is what has made my time at Realizing Rights so amazing. My month at Realizing Rights has given me faith in global health policy work and the impact it can have on the ground. I no longer am a bitter skeptic towards office life and policy work. I might even be a convert. Let’s just say I loved my internship so much that I have spent the last week in crisis deciding whether or not to return to Middlebury for the Spring semester. However, ultimately my desire to be back in school so I can further myself towards a nurse practitioner degree with math and bio and learn about poverty in my senior anthropology seminar is irrepressible and I must return to the Green Mountains where the maple syrup is real and it is a comforting nineteen below.

Contact the Career Services Office for more information on this internship.

Vergennes Animal Hospital

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Vergennes Animal Hospital

Joleen Rafaelle Soares, 2009

With an aspiration of becoming a refined and renowned veterinarian in the future, it was nothing but ideal to seek out an internship working with an animal hospital. Initially I must admit, upon arrival to the Vergennes Animal Hospital, I was a bit shy and nervous. Not only was this my first time “behind the scenes” of an animal hospital, but this was also my very first internship. I went into this experience with an open mind and with little or no “real” expectations for the hospital. The sheer fact that I was going to be at this institution for a whole month was enough to bring me at ease. Little did I know the density of knowledge, in addition to the lasting relationships that I would form with these doctors as well as the institution itself.

On the first day there was no formal introduction. Instead, I was arbitrarily placed with one of the doctors who had appointments that day, a Dr. Peddie. I was allowed to observe him and his assistant as they tended to their patients and talked with their owners. Being the first doctor I met, a very strong student-mentor bond was created between me and Dr. Peddie. As the week progressed, initially I found it somewhat unnerving whenever he was out for the day, as is common amongst these doctors as they all work part-time or rather on rotations. However, considering this absence of formality, I was able to essentially float around the hospital and venture into different areas that I might find interesting as well as create a multitude of mentoring relationships with all the doctors at the hospital as the month moved forward. This lack of rigidity played in my favour and made this experience that more enjoyable as well as educational as I was able to interact with everyone in the hospital equally.

Working there brought forth the realization that there were a lot more people “behind the scenes” than I had ever imagined. Within this realization a kind of challenging task of getting to know everyone presented itself and kept me upbeat throughout the experience. The staff consisted of: receptionists, veterinary technicians, doctors, kennel assistants and the administrative staff and each person was different; even the style in which seemingly routine surgeries varied from doctor to doctor. I also realized that the behaviors of the doctors were catered according to the nature of the clients, as well as the pets. For instance, some clients were very familiar with the importance and nature of vaccinations such that thorough explanations were not as crucial and some pets were not as comfortable as others when in the examination room and so necessary precautions were taken such as the use of muzzles for dogs and leather gloves for cats.

On my first day I witnessed an unimaginable amount of surgeries: Two spays-one dog and one cat- and the removal of a huge, almost 9lb, tumour from the hind region of a dog; I was actually invited into the surgery room to stand and watch! I saw more and more surgeries as the month progressed inclusive of more spays and neuters, an ear ablation surgery and ophthalmic surgery (removal of an eye) to give you an example. I have seen so many spays performed that I am confident in saying that I could probably perform one on my own, with supervision of course. Towards the end of the month, I was even invited to “scrub in” for an exploratory surgery and that by far was one of my most memorable experiences at the hospital. Another unforgettable experience occurred the day I went on-site with the large animal doctor, Dr. Klopfenstein, and I got to feel the insides of a cow through a surgical opening on her abdomen!

Although surgeries were fun to watch that was not all I was involved in. As I mentioned before, I accompanied the doctors to any appointments they might have had during the hours I was there. There I helped accordingly; welcoming the owners, drawing up vaccines for the pets, playing with/distracting the pets for their vaccinations, handing out treats and many other odd, yet necessary jobs. The veterinary technicians were not without needing my assistance as well with X-rays taking, clipping of nails and generally keeping an eye on the animals when they came out of surgery. I was also provided with a crash course in ordering supplies and setting up appointments as well as handling call backs. My knowledge on the inner workings of an animal hospital has definitely increased and I learnt about the prevalence of certain diseases such as the heartworm disease and the intensity of it symptoms and treatment. I learnt about a wide array of medicines, sutures, closing patterns and instruments as well as specific diets that the animals can be put on.

However, one should be aware that with the good comes the bad, or rather in this case, the realizations of one’s limits. The greatest thing I struggled with was the issue of euthanasia. I was allowed to witness one case and it was difficult to contain my emotions as I saw the intensity of grief it brought this elderly man to say goodbye to his pet cat. Afterwards I spoke to one of the doctors, Dr, Basol, about the necessity of this procedure. He shared with me that as pet owners we have the responsibility in deciding whether euthanasia is the right choice to make. It was quite the experience for me and since then could not bear to witness another one during the rest of my time spent at the hospital. I am still unsure about where I stand with this topic, but I hope I will grow in emotional strength in order to perform this procedure if clients desire it for their pets. There were also days with not as much activity as others. On these days I got to learn more about the doctors and their respective paths to becoming doctors of veterinary medicine, DVM.

Overall, this internship had a very positive and powerful influence on my life. It created an even stronger self-assurance in the career choice I have decided to pursue. Solely on my experience on the first day on the job, I was certain that this was the lifestyle for me; it just fit. There are a number of valuable things that I will take away from this experience as well areas of study that I never before considered learning about. For example I now have a new interest in learning about animal dentistry so that I will be adept in performing dental check-ups on pets. Anesthesiology and chiropractics are other areas of interest that developed while at this internship. I also discovered that I would rather be a well-rounded physician/surgeon rather that specifying in some area of surgery, such as cardiology; continuous surgeries can be tedious.

Diversity in treatment is fun and one thing I learnt and appreciated from this institution, as I watched the doctors check textbooks, help each other in surgery and in the reading of X-rays, is that we continue to learn from each other, in and outside of our specific job locations, seeing that the techniques become more difficult and surgeries become more specific and less invasive. As I set out into the real world, I am grateful to have had this experience near the end of my undergraduate time at Middlebury College and I eagerly await the new experiences that are forth coming, now that I am even more prepared and more confident in becoming a certified DVM.

Contact the Career Services Office for more information on this internship.

Brighter Planet

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Brighter Planet

Margaret Smith, 2010

Before diving head first into the world of geography when I took the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) course this past fall, I held a general appreciation for maps and their ability to display a wide variety of information in a visually appealing way-but I never thought twice about how maps are made. However, after an intensive semester of GIS instruction and practice, I’ve walked away with a much greater appreciation for every map I see, along with a more critical eye for what the map contains, after having spent so many hours myself producing maps for our GIS labs.

This J-term I had the opportunity to apply my newly acquired GIS skills as an intern for Brighter Planet, a company located in downtown Middlebury that was founded by some recent Middlebury graduates. Working with GIS in a realistic context, where datasets are massive, no one is handing you sequential steps to follow and files aren’t neatly contained in a folder titled Lab Assignment 7, provided me with an even wider awareness of, and gratefulness for, the large efforts and tough decisions that lie behind the layers of even the visually simplest of maps.

When presented with the appropriate shape files and neatly compiled data tables, a simple map can actually be put together quite quickly using GIS software. However, one of the things that we learned in the GIS classroom this fall is that before you can begin analyzing data and then displaying it in a map, that data must be collected, which tends to be the most time-consuming step in the process.

I couldn’t truly value this statement until I myself spent countless hours during J-term compiling data files from a comparatively enormous dataset, which thankfully had already been collected and cleaned up by others who were brave enough to do so. The specific project that I was working on for Brighter Planet was, at least in the first place, using GIS to incorporate zip codes, and the emissions for power plants that serve those zip codes, into the company’s carbon footprint calculator found on their website. Without knowing how long this project would take, I commenced at the beginning of the month by first making sense of the large files of eGRID2007 subregion emissions data that Ian, my on-site supervisor, provided me.

Once I was able to compile the zip code information needed for the online calculator, I moved on to more visually appealing work. As we made sense of the mountains of numbers and began to view them within a geographical framework, what we discovered was that there were numerous interesting ways to map the emissions data-some involving additional data collection on my part, and others using the data already summarized in the eGRID files. With every map I made, Ian provided feedback as we worked together to make the many decisions behind each map layer.

Ian and I held meetings in the GIS lab from time to time to catch up on my most recent work and to fiddle around with the features of each map. As I showed him some of the different visual options we faced in deciding the appearance and the take-home messages of the maps, I found myself very comfortable navigating the GIS software, a technological territory that was completely foreign to me mere months ago. It gave me confidence to know that I had acquired the specialized skills that could enable me to help out a company, such as Brighter Planet, by providing them with access to the GIS and its powerful tools of analysis and display.

I worked on this project very diligently throughout the month, every day logging many hours at the computers in the GIS lab, which was already my second home after having taken GIS in the fall. One of the most rewarding things for me about using GIS for my internship was that, because my experience with the software is still minimal, I learned something new every day. I’ve walked away from this internship having learned that I can be handed a daunting file bursting with numbers, with few specific instructions or predictions of what the end results might be, and I will be able to work through the files and use GIS to make a visually significant product, an informative map, with what started as a long list of numbers.

Interning with Brighter Planet was a very enjoyable way to spend my J-term; it gave me a realistic experience using GIS outside of the classroom. The company is small, and is run by a group of young individuals who are enthusiastic about the work they do and were especially eager to have some enlightening maps produced specifically for their use. I’ve realized that I really do enjoy making maps with GIS, even more so when motivated by the products’ practical purposes instead of letter grades. One of the reasons why I enjoy GIS, and geography in general, is that it can be used to analyze and visualize any sort of data that has a spatial attribute. At this point, I can certainly imagine myself using my GIS skills somewhere down the road to find a job in a geography-related field. This internship has aided me in reasserting my keenness for the visual art and science of GIS, and has also provided me with a more realistic look at how this mapping software, and my future degree in geography, can be applied to a real-world context outside of the classroom.

In the end, the unpredictable products of this month-long project that I have tackled as an intern for Brighter Planet were a few Excel worksheets full of population and zip code data, emissions totals and rates along with other such numbers. Together with those files, I also ultimately finalized about five maps-though many others were created in the trial-and-error process of figuring out what data was best to map in which geographical extent. Essentially, when I’ve shown this work to others who are not familiar with GIS, this is a seemingly modest creation for a month’s worth of work. It seems that only a person who has had experience collecting data and finally making a map using the software can truly appreciate the time and thought that goes into every aspect-every layer and each of its many attributes-presented in a single map.

Not every map reader can look at a map and realize the process by which that map was made-but I suppose that’s sort of the point of a map, right? A map is a graphic that usually presents a lot of information with a quickly evident message, so that the reader need not think about all the information, time and effort that lies beneath what meets the eye. And though most readers will never know what’s embedded within the layers of the map-which is probably a good thing, as they might become overwhelmed-I’ve realized as a map-maker that I gain huge satisfaction from finally reaching the display phase of the process as I near the final product. When I can add the finishing touches on the borders and the legend, as I use small, simple text to credit the massive dataset that I spent hours pouring through and as I place my name in the corner, giving myself a pat on the back, all the work then seems worth the while.

I was faced with many frustrating moments during this internship when the problems that lay in front of me seemed to lack solutions, when the data I sought seemed nonexistent or if I became suddenly overwhelmed by the countless files I’d scattered in various folders. These moments were outweighed as each hurdle was overcome and I was able to finally discover the exact data I was looking for or when I learned a short cut that would save me lots of time down the road. I’m glad to have had this experience interning with Brighter Planet. It has been rewarding to make maps for a greater purpose than mere grades, to see my GIS skills further improve over the last month and to realize that if this were a field that I chose to pursue, there would be plenty of room for even more improvement and there would be even more gratifying mapping projects to tackle.

Contact the Career Services Office for more information on this internship.

Lei Shing Hong Machinery

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Lei Shing Hong Machinery

Ruchi Singh, 2011

The New Year was off to a good start as I began my one-month internship in China last month. I interned at Lei Shing Hong Machinery, Shanghai- the dealers of Caterpillar Inc, a ‘Fortune 500′ American multinational that manufactures heavy earthmoving and mining equipment. Lei Shing Hong is Caterpillar Inc’s dealers to one of their largest markets in Asia- China. Lei Shing Hong Machinery’s headquarters are located in Kunsan, a small city about an hour drive from Shanghai. The kick-start of my internship program happened in Kunsan where I was briefed about the firm, its motto and work ethics. Following this ‘mini-orientation’ I moved to intern at the Shanghai office. During my four weeks there, I worked in the Business Development department. My main role was to provide analysis for four different projects- CRM-SFM Process, KPI and Performance Indicators followed by Customer Survey and International Trade Contracts.

My first project was to look at Customer Relations Management through which I studied Sales Funnel Management. I also researched and worked out the financial utilization of the firm’s products to prepare yearly reports. After studying these business strategies, I had to create a report for each of these processes based on my critical analysis of them while identifying the advantages of these processes and providing suggestions to improve them. Since I was required to present and discuss my reports before a management team, I chose to create them in the form of a power point presentation. My internship also included field work as I had a chance to go out and interact with the local Chinese customers to conduct a market survey to establish customer needs for the New Year. For my last project, I studied terms of international trade and looked at how firms design contracts of involving international sales. Although not directly related Economics like finance and investment are, it was still very interesting to note that these strategies are applicable to many different businesses.

Working here was a learning experience, since it was my first time working in a professional business environment. It was a chance to become familiar with the business industry and to see how companies cope with the stressful environment, especially during this time of economic recession. I am very satisfied with my performance during this internship. All the work and projects that I was involved with at work, was completely new for me. However, my supervisors and colleagues at work were also very supportive and helped me with research for background information to study. I was happy to be given guidance by skilled individuals, but at the same time also be granted a good level of independence which gave me a chance to understand and apply new concepts as per my capability.

During the course of my internship, I was lucky to attend and also been offered the chance to present at the Lei Shing Hong 2009 Kick-Off Meeting. Preceded by sales and six-sigma training, the focus of the meeting was to look at a review of 2008 and 2009 business and budget plan. Additionally, the meeting also tracked the progress of the recently opened Cat Rental Store, which is still in its infancy stages in China. Held in Shanghai from Jan 10 to Jan 11, the fifty people audience included staff and officials from the Shanghai and Kunsan Office and Caterpillar, China. Through this presentation I showcased my analysis of the first two projects that I had worked on. Although I was definitely nervous about undertaking such great responsibility, I think I fared well and was very optimistic to see that the board appreciated my efforts and suggestions, and thought that they worth considering and possibly implementing. Through this experience I realized that what made my entire internship truly an opportunity through which I learnt and built on strong fundamentals was the fact that it was based on strong communication. I learnt from my supervisors and colleagues, who were my guides through this time, but at the same time, they too valued my input and thoughts.

Through this internship my goal was not only to learn about business but also get a chance to enhance my Chinese. I did indeed achieve this goal since living in Shanghai, going in and around the city and interacting with the locals; Chinese was the only language of communication. So although initially it was intimidating with my limited Chinese vocabulary, after about a week, it started to feel normal to communicate in Chinese most of the time. Shanghai is a huge city with a lot of local and international diversity. Having local friends was a bonus since they were my expert tour guides showing me around and giving me a taste of its rich history and culture. From food to shopping, art galleries and museums to ancient temples, Shanghai has a tremendous amount to offer if one is willing to explore. For me, while doing so, my Chinese came in very handy. I learnt a lot in terms of the Chinese culture and history, and picked up on a lot more new vocabulary too. All in all, I think spending one month in China very helpful in providing me professional exposure to one of the largest growing markets in the world while at the same time, making me more determined to continue studying Chinese.

Contact the Career Services Office for more information on this internship.