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Meet CrusaderIntern Paul Endres ’18

Meet Paul Endres ’18 Clinical Observer/Data Researcher at Winthrop University Hospital

Tell us about where you are interning and the kind of work you are doing.

I am interning at Winthrop University Hospital, doing something different every day! Part of the week I am in New York City at the NYCyberknife, Winthrop’s specialized Radiation Oncology office. There I get to observe the doctors, nurses, and radiation techs in the daily running of the office.

Additionally, I am am working on a research project! I am studying the effect different dosages of radiation to the prostate and surrounding organs have on short and long term quality of life. The days I am not in New York City, I am out in the main hospital in Mineola, Long Island. There, I get to shadow different medical professionals in different departments. Some departments I have been in include Emergency Medicine, Interventional Radiation, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Pediatrics, and the Intensive Care Unit! Every day is something new and exciting!

Give us an example of how you have applied your academic learnings to your internship?

I apply my academic skills every day at my internship. I often times draw on my studies of biology and chemistry to be able to talk with medical professionals regarding the cases I am observing. Additionally, I use my scientific research and data skills in my research of radiation oncology.

What has surprised you about being an intern?

I am most surprised by how helpful people have been if I just ask. I often times go into different departments, and am connected with one person there through my boss. However, by the end of one day, most people in the department know who I am and go out of their way to make sure that I am learning and enjoying my time.

How did this experience influence or connect to your future career plans / goals?

Through my time at Winthrop University Hospital, I have been able to experience a great sampling of the medical field. Before this experience, I did not know anything about some of the fields, such as emergency medicine and interventional radiology. Additionally, I thought I would never enjoy surgery, until this position placed me in the operating room and I was able to observe amazing procedures such as open heart surgery or a robotic hysterectomy. This experience has opened my eyes to the broad scope of medicine, and has made me realize how many options there are in the medical field!

Any internship advice to pass on to other Holy Cross students?

Go with the flow! Not every internship is perfect. Sometimes schedules change or you have to go somewhere you may not want to. Embrace these experiences! It is ok to be nervous, but do not let your fear keep you from trying something new. You would be surprised how much you may enjoy something you think you will hate!
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Meet Catherine Griffin’18, Marketing Intern at Fidelity Investments

Read about Catherine Griffin’s experience as a Fidelity Institutional Asset Management (FIAM) Marketing Intern this summer.

Tell us about where you are interning and the kind of work you are doing.

This summer I am interning at Fidelity Investments in Boston. Fidelity is a well known financial services company that aims to help clients meet their financial goals. As an intern in the broader department of Asset Management, I am working closely with the portfolio managing team, in addition to the FIAM marketing team, to assist in the development and execution of marketing materials with a specific focus on managed account solutions within the Asset Allocation business. The awesome part about my job is that I get to do real work, not just intern work. I am assigned real projects that help the team and the company, and they help me learn the business. It is a win win!

Give us an example of how you have applied your academic learnings to your internship?

As a history major, I am taught how to read, write and think critically. I think that my liberal arts education, while I will say I am definitely the odd one out in my group of asset management interns, has been a valuable asset to my performance. Every time I am assigned a task, I am able to approach it with critical eye and I always, always ask questions. I can think outside the box for solutions and I can perform my projects efficiently.

What has surprised you about being an intern?

What has surprised me most is how friendly everyone at Fidelity is and how they all want you to succeed. Networking has been so easy because everyone is always happy to sit down with you for coffee. I am also surprised at the value my work has. My team has assigned me real projects, some that will eventually be client facing, so I am challenged to come up with innovative ideas and perform my job well. I am really lucky to have the opportunity for the summer and I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of my internship has in store!

How did this experience influence or connect to your future career plans / goals?

This experience has influenced my career goals tremendously. I have learned a lot about myself as an employee and have been developing so many valuable skills. I have also learned what it is like to work for a big company, and that I really enjoy working for Fidelity. My mentors have given me a lot of great career advice and I am currently exploring different roles and teams within Fidelity like consulting or business strategy.

I definitely think I have a better idea of what I like and don’t like, my strengths and weaknesses and my passions. I like working for an organization that cares deeply about its employees and its clients. I love leaving everyday feeling like I have learned something new. I hope to continue my career in business in something that keeps me excited and working hard day in and day out.

Any internship advice to pass on to other Holy Cross students?

First, Network, network, network! I know it can be intimidating, but especially when you have an internship, you already have an “in” in that company, take advantage of it!

Second, take the time you have to learn as much about the company as you can, meet with as many people as are willing, and go above and beyond in your assignments. Work ethic and attitude will get you a long way in the work force, or so I have been told.

And finally, use your time wisely. The last thing you want is to walk away from an opportunity feeling like you didn’t take full advantage of it. Also leverage the fact that you go to Holy Cross. I have had some of the most meaningful conversations and have made great connections with people who have gone to HC. I’ve found that they love to hear about your experience, and more importantly, they want to help you succeed!
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Meet CrusaderIntern Gabriel Castagna’18

Meet Gabriel Castagna’18 Editorial Intern at SourceMedia.

Tell us about where you are interning and the kind of work you are doing.

My internship is at a newsroom in Downtown Manhattan. SourceMedia has multiple different publications, all with a focus on financial news in various categories. The publication I primarily work with is called Asset Securitization Report, and as the name suggests it focuses on news regarding new securitization deals and regulation in securitization markets.

I typically start the day by logging on to the company’s Twitter account (follow @_ASReport !) and tweet out links and headlines to ASR’s latest stories. I then spend a few minutes scrolling through the latest #securitization hashtagged tweets to see if there is anything worthy of a retweet that may be of interest to our readers. Next, I convene with my supervisor to see if anything newsworthy is happening in the securitization market and come up with a topic to research and write about. I spend the rest of the day researching, writing, and revising until I have a fully-edited story ready for publication.

Give us an example of how you have applied your academic learnings to your internship?

My academic learnings have been vital to my internship experience. As a Political Science major, much of my work involves researching and dissecting articles for information that may be relevant to whatever topic I am assigned to write about. That is what I spend the majority of my day doing here at SourceMedia. My Holy Cross experience has taught me how to research effectively and write professionally in a timely manner.

What has surprised you about being an intern?

The most surprising thing about being an intern in my experience is that nobody sees you as subordinate or less valuable to the company because of your intern status. At least in my case, I feel like the full-time employees here view me in the same regard. Expectations are just as high for you as they are for full-time employees; nobody will cut you breaks or expect any less of you because you’re an intern.

How did this experience influence or connect to your future career plans / goals?

I hope to someday work in financial services, though I’m not sure what in particular I’d like to pursue. The finance knowledge I am acquiring will be extremely useful in my future career plans; I’ve learned more about financial markets in the past three weeks alone than I have my entire life.

I never considered working in journalism before, but given how much I am enjoying my internship I could see myself pursuing that particular career path. Personally, I think it’s so cool that people I’ll never meet read my articles every day, and pay to do so. There’s something rewarding about that, and it actually motivates me to do my work to the best of my ability knowing that people other than my professors genuinely care about what I write.

Any internship advice to pass on to other Holy Cross students?

Remember why you’re interning. It’s nice to have a summer job and make some extra cash before heading back to school, but that isn’t why you’re interning. You’re there to learn, to see, and to network. Take advantage of the opportunity you have before you; a lot of students would love to be in your shoes. Meet everyone you can, because you’ll never know what you might learn from them or who may offer you a job sometime down the road. Lastly, work hard. Always. There are tons of other kids just as qualified as you for your position, but they chose you. If you’re going to slack, your company will have no problem trading you for one of the other thousands of kids raring to prove themselves.