Category Archives: Student Profiles

Summer Internship | Student Spotlight: Charlie Adkins

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Summer Internship | Student Spotlight: Charlie Adkins

Unknown-1Where did you work and what was your title and department?

This summer, I interned with the NFL in the User Acquisition department. The department is part of the Digital Media group, and our products include Game Pass – an international subscription product featuring live games – fantasy football, and other digital subscription products. The head of my business unit was a BHP alum, which I did not know before starting there. Once we learned of each other, we were able to immediately connect on a more personal level, due to our BHP connection.

 What did you expect to gain from your internship this past summer?

I expected to gain an understanding of how various departments all work together for league-wide success. I wanted to see how football operations interacted with digital media, accounting, sponsorship, legal, and all of the other departments around the league. Each piece is crucial to the success of the NFL and its 32 clubs, and I wanted to understand how the league operates. Additionally, I wanted to learn and develop a new skill set in digital media, as it was an area that I had never been fully exposed to.

Did the internship meet or supersede your expectations? How?

My internship definitely exceeded my expectations. While I aimed to learn as much as possible at the league level, I gained a broader understanding in many different functional skill sets in digital, marketing, and branding. I had never worked in a digital media role before, and I was challenged with a new task each and every day.

Each week the interns interacted with a different department through presentations that showed insight into various pieces of the business and how they fit together to form the NFL and serve the 32 clubs for the ultimate benefit of the fan. My department constantly worked with other teams, so I was able to gain insights from other departments into how and why they perform the functions that they do.

Tell me about an interesting encounter you had during your internship.

During my internship, I took advantage of many external opportunities and events, which I would highly recommend regardless of your interests. As someone who intends to enter the sports industry post-graduation, I attended various sporting events during my time off of work. I visited Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, Camden Yards, and Citizens Bank Ballpark. At each stadium, I walked around to experience the different features of the ballpark, and I paid close attention to the little things – ballpark layout, game presentation, sponsorship activation, concession options, and many others.

While I was not “working” at that time, I was adding to my knowledge base within the industry and will be able to share my takeaways from each in the future. As a sports fan, I attended the Belmont Stakes and witnessed American Pharoah win the first Triple Crown in the last 37 years, which was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

 Sharing that moment with 90,000 screaming sports fans to root American Pharoah to the finish line is something that I have never experienced before and will never forget. Additionally, I witnessed Alex Rodriguez’s 3000th career hit, a feat that has only occurred 29 times in MLB history.

 

Ultimately, the important piece is to truly utilize all of the resources and opportunities that are around you during the internship – both on the clock and off.

What did you learn about yourself that you did not know before?

I learned how much I enjoy strategy and understanding why things are done a certain way. I like to set (or help to set) the vision and strategy for an organization, department, or product. Then, I like to put the vision into practice and execute it. I am very curious and always seeking to learn something new, and that did not change during my internship. I asked questions and read frequently to better understand the landscape and why we did things a certain way. I searched for opportunities to provide a better product for our fans, both domestically and internationally.

What did you contribute to the company?

During my time at the NFL, I worked on a variety of different projects. My workload changed daily as new projects came on board. I developed new recruiting materials, created tracking links for our affiliate program, and provided growth opportunities in international markets. I wrote a sizzle reel commercial to communicate product value and grow the reach of the NFL internationally. I worked on our marketing plans for this season and consolidated research on our fans in core international markets. In short, I worked on a variety of different projects and brought my perspective to the table in every discussion.

What advice do you have for other students who are recruiting for internships?

Make sure to take advantage of the opportunity that you have been given. Take the time to get to know others on your team, as well as from other departments that seem interesting to you. One of my favorite parts of my internship was the opportunity to interact with others around the league, as I enjoy learning from other people’s experiences. Others in the office are willing and eager to talk to you, especially when you take the initiative to reach out to them in a respectful way. Look for new opportunities for your team and provide a new perspective to the group, as you never know where it could lead.

Summer Internship | Student Spotlight: Bethany Rolan

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Summer Internship | Student Spotlight: Bethany Rolan

Bethany RolanCompany: FIAT (FCA)

Position: Analyst – Resin Strategy Team
Chemicals Purchasing Department
Auburn Hills, Michigan

What did you expect to gain from your summer internship?

My goal for this internship was to get a taste for what a Supply Chain Management job really looked like in the “real world.” I hoped to gain analytical skills and have access to a global supply chain. I also wanted to work outside of Texas and get experience living in another state.

Did it meet or supersede your expectations? 

This internship definitely met my expectations. I gained a lot of insight into what my day-to-day life could look like working in a Supply-Chain-related role after graduation. One of the best things about FCA is that it is an incredibly open company. Almost everyone working for FCA in the US (with the exception of those working at the manufacturing plants) works in one giant HQ building. That means that everyone from legal to finance to design and everything in between, are all in one place. As an intern, I was given a lot of exposure to other departments and I was allowed to shadowBethany Rolan 3 or meet with anyone I wanted. I was also included in several high-level and cross-functional meetings, so I got exposure to several different roles.

Share an interesting encounter you had during your internship.

As part of the direct purchasing department, part of my job included visits to suppliers. This was one of my favorite things to do because I got to drive all around the state of Michigan and see the car parts actually being made. A few weeks into my internship, I was invited to visit a supplier with the engineering team. Since the visit was not primarily about a purchasing issue, I was the only person in the meeting from the Resin Team. To everyone’s surprise, one of the executives from the supplier starting asking about the Resin Program, something no one else was very familiar with.

Unexpectedly, I got to speak in the meeting and answer questions. It was really cool that I was trusted to speak to clients after just a few weeks as an intern, but it also boosted my confidence since I proved to myself that I could accurately articulate what I had learned about the Resin Program.

What did you learn about yourself that you did not know before?

Being in a work environment for 40+ hours every week taught me countless lessons about myself. I think the most important lessons have been about the kind of work I enjoy doing and how I prefer to do that work. I  learned that I really enjoy project-oriented work, where I can see something from beginning to end. I really found myself craving work that I felt would affect how the company did things, not what they did. I also learned that I like to talk through things with others, instead of sitting alone in a cubicle. Knowing more about in what type of environments I work most productively and what type of work I enjoy most helped me to give feedback to my supervisors which helped them place me on projects that were more and more exciting for me as the summer progressed.

What did you contribute to the company?

One thing that I identified as I was learning about the resin buying strategy was how segmented the Resin Team was from the rest of the purchasing department. Bethany Rolan 5There was a definite lack of understanding about how resin should affect and was affecting all of the other commodities. I started setting up meetings with other groups to better understand how resin fit into the larger picture and using the information I gathered to create training documents. I presented to individual departments in the hope of creating more cross-functional alignment so that everyone can both support and benefit from the overarching resin strategy.

BHP Students Making Positive Impacts in the Rio Grande Valley through New Organization

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BHP Students Making Positive Impacts in the Rio Grande Valley through New Organization

BHP students Sam Garcia, Nelson Chen and William Herbst joined up with BBA student Tom Jackson to form an innovative new student organization called the Sustainable Dairy Goat Initiative earlier this year to address poverty problems in the colonias of the Rio Grande Valley.

Garcia, who is from the Valley, came up with the idea after learning more about the concept of microfinancing to assist those in poverty, and using agriculture to overcome barriers to entry, during a class he took while studying abroad in Argentina. He was recently recognized for the initiative, receiving the University Unions Pal-Make A Difference Award.

Garcia raised goats growing up and had spent time in the colonias during mission trips, where he witnessed the extreme poverty first-hand. He put the two experiences together and realized that providing those families with goats could be a great form of microfinancing and could have a really positive impact on families in the area. He recruited his McCombs School friends and started the organization.

This past winter the group donated the first six goats to two families. “Most of the people in colonias are first generation Hispanics of undocumented immigrants and many have experience working with farm animals,” said Garcia. “These families are using the goats to provide for their family and sell products made from the goats.”

The organization is currently working on becoming a non-profit and securing their 501c3 status. They are focused on raising donations from various sources to expand the initiative. Their goal is to provide 10 families with three goats each next winter. These families will be encouraged to form a dairy cooperative to sell their products and share business expenses.

The group is excited about the future of the initiative and pleased with the support they have received so far, which includes a house resolution filed by State Representative Bobby Guerra, a partnership with La Union del Pueblo Unido (LUPE) of Hidalgo County, raising $600 through a campus-wide event, and securing numerous donations for the initiative.

To learn more about the initiative or become a member of the organization, visit the Sustainable Dairy Goat Initiative website.

Student Spotlight: Nakul Shah

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Student Spotlight: Nakul Shah

NakulShahBHP senior Nakul Shah will graduate with business and biochemistry degrees this May. He has maintained a nearly perfect GPA, all while conducting research and being involved on campus and in the community. He also scored in the top one-percent of MCAT test takers. It is no surprise that Nakul has been accepted into numerous competitive medical schools. He will soon be deciding which school to attend and hopes to go on to leave his mark through Oncology research.

You are majoring in BHP and Biochemistry. Tell me about combining those majors and how difficult the workload has been.

It is difficult because both majors are focused on different things. The application of business outside the classroom is a focus in business classes, so there are frequent projects outside the classroom. Science classes are more focused on reading the material and sticking to the material inside the class. Combining both has allowed me to focus on my passion of science, but also practice case-based learning through business. Doing both has allowed me to focus on the science and find my passion for oncology, but I also got a wider view of the medical field through the business side.

What was the process of applying to medical school like?

You start early in the year you want to apply. You should start getting materials together in January of the year you want to apply. For rec letters you will need two to six, so it takes a while to talk to your professors and organize it. You have to put down references for all of the student organizations and extracurricular activities you have been involved in, and make sure those people feel comfortable vouching for you. Then there is the personal statement about why you want to be a doctor and it takes a while to write a really good, unique essay. You have to get it in early, before October. I submitted mine in July, but I recommend early June if possible because it is a rolling admissions process, so there will be less spots left the later you submit.

First you turn in primary application, then complete the secondary application that focuses on the mission of that school because they all have different missions. I was focused on those with a research mission. From there you may be asked to complete an interview on campus. Usually with two med school faculty members – one professor and one doctor. Their questions focused on science and my interest in being a doctor. For Texas schools there is a pre-match and match program so you will know as early as November or as late as January. Out of state schools let you know by the end of April.

It is very hard to balance a full school workload and manage the interviews. Students should keep that in mind when setting their course load for the fall semester of their senior year.

You were accepted into very prestigious medical schools. What do you think differentiated you from other applicants?

The main thing that set me apart in my opinion was my diverse education at UT. I had the business background, took advantage of the scientific computing program at UT and the top chemistry program. I had the whole view of healthcare – business of healthcare, big data of healthcare and the science education. I applied to 9 schools and received interviews at 7.

You scored in the top one-percent of MCAT test takers. Do you have any tips for other students preparing to take the MCAT?

One misconception about the MCAT is that you should do something else outside of studying the summer before the MCAT because it will look good on your application. Some schools will immediately reject your application if you do not make their GPA and MCAT cutoff, so make sure you spend enough time on it. It is memorization/materials based so you have to have make a lot of time for it. I spent two full months studying eight hours a day.

What are you involved in outside of school and how did you manage that with two difficult majors?

In the business school, I am involved in the Undergraduate Business Council and Undergraduate Computational Finance team. Outside of the business school, I was in Eastside Community Connection, which is a non-profit food pantry. I am also involved in research. I started researching my sophomore year and am still doing it. The College of Natural Sciences has a database of research professors, so that is how I found my research opportunities. I am currently researching cancer cells, trying to find drug targets for different kinds of cancers to try to stop tumor growth. I have been on this project since junior year. I applied to medical schools that are research focused, so my current researched was a big topic of conversation in my interviews.

What particular area of medicine would you like to be in?

Oncology is my interest. Because of the research I have been doing, I became passionate about cancer cells. There are more than 200 kinds of cancer cells, so it is very interesting and challenging research. I also want to stay in academic medicine. I will likely spend 5 years in medical school, as opposed to four, to get more research projects in. After that, the residency program will be four years, then after that I would do a research fellowship, then apply for positions in oncology at a hospital or medical school.

Does it seem overwhelming to you when you think about how many more years of learning you have ahead of you?

I have been prepared for this for a long time and it makes sense to me that if you are going to trust someone to make life and death decisions, they should spend that long in school learning and honing their schools. It is an honor to be trusted with those decisions and it takes a long time to get to that level of knowledge.

What has been your favorite class at UT?

Dr. Prentice’s LEB class. It set me up well for interviews. They will often ask about ethical dilemmas and he did an amazing job of preparing me for those questions. He makes you realize you aren’t as ethical as you think and forces you to think about how you would react in certain situations. It really prepared me to critically evaluate my actions.

What has been your most difficult class at UT?

I took a grad level class in computational chemistry, focused on advanced topics like quantum physics. It was interesting, but very difficult. It was an elective course so I didn’t need it, but I was interested in the topic and it made me a better biochemistry student.

As a senior, looking back on your four years, what do you know now that you wish you had known when you started school?

I wish I would have been open to more diversity of my education and experiences. From the start I knew what I needed to do and get involved in for med school. There were a lot of great opportunities that wouldn’t have helped my application, but would have helped me grow as a person. There are a lot of music and art opportunities that I would have liked to have done at UT.

Student Spotlight – Nikki Ellis

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Student Spotlight – Nikki Ellis

Nikki EllisNikki Ellis is a senior in the BHP program and a third-year MPA student. She has been highly involved in the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, raising more than $30,000 for the Ronald McDonald House, and has had the opportunity to complete multiple internships, including a summer internship with Deloitte in their Rio de Janeiro office.

Nikki is the rare senior who will have completed four internships by the time she graduates. The summer after her freshman year, she interned with a family friend at a small investment bank called Wunderlich Securities. There were five directors she worked with, and all five had CPAs and had done accounting work. “I asked them for advice and they said you can go a lot of directions with an accounting degree and that it is a good foundation for whatever you choose to do,” said Nikki.

She enjoyed her first two BHP accounting classes, so she decided to take their advice and chose MPA as her second major. She chose tax because she is detail-oriented and likes being challenged by numbers. Nikki landed an internship with Deloitte the summer after sophomore year after connecting with a Deloitte recruiter at a conference and keeping in touch with her about opportunities. The internship was in Houston with the Corporate Tax and Federal Compliance group. Deloitte has a global internship program which is open to all interns, and Nikki applied for the program and was the only Houston intern selected to participate that year.

She spent two-and-a-half weeks in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, working with that office’s national tax group. She did research on international taxation and observed client meetings. She went with 7 other interns from across the country and created a strong network with those students as well as the professionals in the office. The program was intended to be a month long, but due to riots at the time, Deloitte delayed her trip but a week and a half. “I thought it would be a good experience to work abroad since I would consider doing an international assignment at some point in my career,” said Nikki. Even with the shortened program, she still felt she did get a taste of what working in tax in an international setting would be like.

Last summer, Nikki decided to take an internship with National Oilwell Varco. “I didn’t want to limit my options, so I wanted to try industry too,” she said. She enjoyed the internship, but ultimately decided that she preferred working with different clients and having a larger scope. She decided to go back into public accounting, accepting an offer with the same Deloitte Tax group this year for her spring for MPA internship. “Deloitte has invested a lot in me and they take an interest in helping interns learn, taking the time to fully explain projects to them. I like the young culture in my group and the fast pace and challenge.”

She wants to stress to underclassmen the value of networking. “I am glad I worked on building my professional network. I got all my internships from people I had met or knew. It is okay to reach out to family friends. I asked a lot of questions to people around me to figure out what I wanted to do and went to networking events.”