Monthly Archives: September 2020

Internship Spotlight: Lauren Johnson at Whole Foods

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Name: Lauren Johnson

Major: Canfield BHP, Plan II Honors, Management Information Systems

Previous internship: Indirect Procurement Intern at Whole Foods

Topics of Interest: Country music, music production, appreciating the outdoors, sustainability

When the pandemic hit, various students with internships and study abroad plans for the summer were thrown for a loop. With the economy in disarray, many Canfield BHP students had to find other ways to make their summer a productive one. Lauren Johnson, a Canfield BHP, Plan II Honors, and Management Information Systems senior, is a perfect example of one of those students. 

After her plans to study abroad over the summer were canceled due to the pandemic, Lauren began to search for an internship. Eventually, she landed a position as an Indirect Procurement Intern at Whole Foods. In the midst of everything going on, these last-minute internships were incredibly competitive; Lauren said certain experiences in McCombs made her more confident about the possibility of receiving an offer. 

“Like everyone else, I felt like I was just scrambling for an internship and I found (the Whole Foods opportunity) on LinkedIn,” Lauren said, “I think something that set me apart was an event put on like through (the Undergraduate Business Council– UBC) where we hosted the CEO of Whole Foods. I actually got to see him after the event and talk to him, so in my interview, I was able to provide insight into the values of the company because I’d had a conversation with the CEO, which was really cool.” 

Lauren completed her internship remotely from Denver, Colorado, where she spent her summer. While she said working in-person certainly would have been a good opportunity to, she still had an incredible experience. From working with a small, passionate team to handling a variety of projects throughout the summer.

“I was working with two teams: the Quality Standards team and the Indirect Procurement team. In quality standards I did a lot of ad hoc projects in different areas, like researching developments in a form of agriculture or completing an analysis on survey results about seafood sustainability or even managing the team’s internal website,” Lauren said. “On the Indirect Procurement team, we handled all of the hand sanitizers and PPE and stuff like that. Related to that, I worked on a recycling project consolidating information about packaging materials. It was a great opportunity to be a part of a bigger mission for sustainability and Whole Foods.”

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Canfield BHP Freshmen Value Community in a Virtual Environment

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As students approach what for many will be the third or fourth month of online schooling, it is understandably difficult to have a positive outlook on the rest of the semester. Every undergraduate is missing out on traditionally-experienced sports games, concerts, and even lunch dates. 

The situation is arguably even more difficult for college freshmen, who already were forced to miss out on milestones like high school prom and graduation. While college presented an opportunity to make things right after a botched senior year of high school, many hopes were dashed when the majority of UT classes went online. Even so, freshmen students in the Canfield Business Honors continue to thrive, whether it be through applying and getting into (virtually-run) student organizations, taking advantage of peer mentor groups, or connecting with professors and administration. 

Sidd Shende, a Canfield BHP freshmen currently working from his home in Seattle, Washington, explains that, although he’s working from an entirely different time zone, the resources and community UT and Canfield BHP provide make online schooling the best it can be. 

“I like online schooling, especially given that I’m in Seattle. Honestly, I really like the way Canvas is set up with the whole to-do list and the way the assignments are (formatted),” he said. “I’m also really experiencing the whole community and I feel like a lot of (Canfield BHP) people I’m talking to are academically driven, but at the same time like-minded and ambitious, so I really connect with them.”

Other students feel similarly, especially after experiencing the Canfield BHP tradition of Leadership Kickoff. Jenna Chen, a freshman currently attending classes from her home in Plano, Texas, said she appreciated the effort administration and upperclassmen put into the event, referencing a virtual escape room that was one aspect of Leadership Kickoff.

“Even though we’re all physically separated, the amount of work they put into making virtual connections, like the escape room we did during Kickoff, is incredible. It was a really neat way to communicate and get to know our peers and how we all work in a team setting,” Jenna said. 

Jenna also said the efforts of her Canfield BHP peer mentor have improved her college experience. 

“I love my peer mentor. I think she’s amazing and she’s just so helpful in creating a very inclusive environment,” Jenna said. “One of my favorite things that we do in (Canfield) BHP is the thirty-minute conversations I have with my peer mentor and group after our BA101 class. Just being able to talk to my mentor and the people in it is about our thoughts gives it a real community vibe, even though I’m at home.”

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Internship Spotlight: Nihar Tatapudi at Amazon

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Nihar Tatapudi posing for a professional headshot

Nihar Tatapudi

Class: Junior  Major/Minor: Canfield BHP and Finance/Educational Psychology  Certificate: Risk Management
Internship: Financial Analyst Intern  Company: Amazon

Topics of Interest: Consulting, Finance, and Risk Management

Nihar Tatapudi is a Canfield BHP junior majoring in Finance and minoring in Educational Psychology while pursuing a certificate in Risk Management. Born in Detroit, Michigan, this avid Cowboys fan comes to us from Dallas, Texas where he grew up for the last ten years. Inspired by his big brother (also a UT alum), Nihar found his home away from home here at the Forty Acres.

Over the summer, Nihar completed an internship at Amazon as a Financial Analyst Intern. He shares his experience on working remotely for the first time and gives us a front-row seat looking into Amazon’s response to the growing demand amid a lingering pandemic and how he navigated much of the logistics behind the scenes.

Tell us why you wanted to intern for Amazon.

I think it’s almost a no brainer, right? It’s the world’s largest company. How do you say no? I was able to find out the opportunity through two different avenues. One, my professional journey on campus, Delta Sigma Pi. Two, Stephanie Cantu who is an academic advisor for Canfield BHP. She helped me get my foot in the door by talking with the recruiter and the next thing you know, I’m going through the interview process. 

The reason I chose this specific program is that I had an interest in corporate finance when I was a sophomore. I wasn’t too sure what the field entailed but I knew as a finance major, that it’d be nice to get some exposure there and it just seemed like a program that hadn’t hired sophomores before. I was going to be the first sophomore they hired, which was intimidating but at the same time, it looked like something that I could have a lot of fun with and learn from, especially in such a fast-paced environment. With things being virtual, getting to see the world’s biggest company operate during a pandemic was one experience that I will never forget. Continue reading

Internship Spotlight: Rebeccah Musson at PepsiCo

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Headshot for CBHPeer Rebeccah Musson

Rebeccah Musson

Class: Senior  Major(s): Canfield BHP and Marketing  Certificate: Sports Media  Internship: E-Commerce Intern  Company: PepsiCo

Topics of Interest: Brand Marketing, Sports Marketing, and E-Commerce

As a rising senior and marketing major pursuing a sports media certificate, Canfield BHPeer Rebeccah Musson shows us that perseverance and patience pay off. Born in the great state of Texas and raised in the Chapel Hill-Durham area of North Carolina, Rebeccah comes to us as a seasoned veteran who has dealt with change for most of her life. We caught up with Rebeccah on her experience with PepsiCo and to talk about how she has coped with working remotely after a successful summer as an E-Commerce Intern.

Starting her recruitment process off on the right foot was a bit dicey. Rebeccah admits having to do more leg work than her peers but finding alums with marketing backgrounds to get their insights on recruiting for a company like Pepsi was a task she was ready to take on.

“Recruiting for marketing is a little bit more difficult than some of the other majors. There are not as many companies that are coming to campus [for marketing], at least not to the extent of consulting for example. Within Canfield BHP, marketing is a smaller major. It took a bit of extra work to reach out to people who are marketing majors and to get their insights on how to recruit. It proved not to be too difficult once I got into it.”  Continue reading

Internship Spotlight: Liam Baskin at Bain and Company

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Liam Baskin Headshot

Liam Baskin

Class: Senior  Major(s): Canfield BHP/Plan II  Internship: Associate Consulting Intern  Company: Bain and Company

Topics of Interest: Consulting and Intellectual Property

Let’s talk about consulting. Many of our students are passionate about the profession but we also understand that navigating the dos and don’ts of a new internship in consulting while working remotely can sometimes be quite arduous. We recently caught up with Liam Baskin, a Canfield BHP rising senior also majoring in Plan II Honors who completed an internship with Bain and Company over the summer while working remotely. 

While Liam’s interests lead to a consulting career, his path is not a lonely one. He and his sister Terrill, also a Canfield BHPeer and Plan II student, share similar passions in consulting and work at competing firms. “She’s at BCG and I’m at [Bain and Company]. We recruited together and we’ve been through the exact same thing for pretty much three years, which has been interesting.” Liam says.

As an Associate Consulting Intern at Bain and Company, Liam trained for two weeks and was quickly “plugged” into a case at the firm. “My case is probably a little bit less conventional because I’m not working for a client. I’m doing IP (Intellectual Property) work for [Bain and Company] so they are my client.” Liam explained.  Continue reading