I spent the summer at the Franklin Mint’s Finance internship program. I created complex spreadsheets and quantitative data analysis and designed international multi-company multi-currency budgeting and reporting processes. I have more flexibility with my schedule at school this year, so I’ve piled my courses into fewer days and will continue to work at least two full days at the Mint each week through the school year.
I thought the Investment Banker’s world sounded like high stress, but the Franklin Mint is a really tough corporate environment; it’s a good training ground for me from an alternative culture standpoint. The people are really sharp, but they are fiercely competitive and almost high school clique-y. It wasn’t my first choice. I wanted to work at Hewlett-Packard, where the corporate culture is people oriented. I was so excited when they recruited on campus, because they have a plant about 20 minutes from my house, but they weren’t hiring any interns locally.
This year, the classes are more challenging, and there is already a focus on the job hunt. Some people had their jobs locked up at the end of their summer internship. I’m missing out entirely on the social life at Wharton. I work in groups a lot, but I don’t have a circle of friends to hang out with when I’m on campus. Even in classes, I pretty much keep to myself. It seems like everyone else always socializes with others outside of classes and group projects. I just go to class or to work, then go home and study. It’s my own doing. Most of the time Lou is out of town, so it isn’t like I have to be home to make dinner or anything. I wasn’t like this at SCCC or Stony Brook, and I don’t have a clue why I am now. Maybe it would be different if we lived on campus, as we did at Duke.