FCA Spotlight: Brandon Nolan

By Brandon Nolan, Gabelli 2014 & Fordham Career Ambassador

Being a part of the Fordham Career Ambassador program has been filled with nothing but good times and lasting memories. The trip I was able to take with my classmates and a few fellow career ambassadors to Washington, D.C. was no exception. A Fordham alumnus from the class of 1969, and current president’s council member, Ed Blount, hosted a trip for 25 students to get a backstage tour of Washington, D.C.

Mr. Blount used his connections throughout the D.C. area to score us many amazing opportunities. After arriving in Washington, DC we made our way to the Treasury where we had a one on one conversation with the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Neal Wolin. Mr. Wolin was excited to have us and provided us with some unbelievable insight into the direction that the Treasury was taking. The meeting was a complete question and answer session, and Mr. Wolin stayed past his allotted time, much to the dismay of his assistant, to make sure that all of our questions were answered. He was extremely knowledgeable on the different situations going on overseas, including Cyprus and the issues in Japan. (For more information on the visit, click here.)

Upon the conclusion of our intriguing discussion with Mr. Wolin we were lead out of the Treasury, down Pennsylvania Avenue, past the White House and into the Office of Budget Management. This visit was far more interesting than it may sound. At the time, Congress had just recently failed to pass the new budget, leading to the sequester cuts. Although the inability of the congress to reach an agreement on the budget cost us a chance to visit the White House, it provided us with a great topic in our conversation with Mrs. Blount. Mrs. Blount, Ed’s daughter, works for the Office of Budget Management, particularly with the defense budget. She provided great insight into many of the hot topics in budget management like Social Security.  She gave us the inside scoop on how the different departments try to increase their allotted budgets, putting much pressure on the personnel within the OBM to remain fair and balanced. Although the OBM can often be overlooked when we think about the offices within Washington, D.C., it plays a pivotal role in the workings of our government. It was extremely insightful to get the opportunity to learn about their role from Mrs. Blount.

After a quick lunch on Lafayette Square, overlooking the White House, we headed off to the Federal Reserve. 

The Federal Reserve and Mr. Bernanke have been pivotal in the recovery of our economy since the downfall in 2008. The Federal Reserve walks a tight rope by trying to balance the interest and inflation rates. We were lucky enough to speak with a representative from the Federal Reserve who explained to us what the Federal Reserve is trying to accomplish by keeping interest rates low. We were lucky enough to sit in the boardroom that sits adjacent to Mr. Bernanke’s office and is the site of the quarterly meetings between the twelve Federal Reserve presidents. The boardroom was decorated with different currency series dating back as far as the 1800’s. The history of the building and that particular room, accompanied with an informative and interesting speech made for another memorable experience in a day filled with them.

Our final stop was the Security and Exchange Commission. There we met with a panel of Fordham Law alumni who spoke to us about their positions and the ever-growing need for forensics and oversight in the financial industry. We spoke about the different cases in recent history, the Dodd-Frank Act, and how those particular professionals got to where they are today. The Security and Exchange Commission is a beautiful, technologically advanced building located outside of Union Station. Although it was the final stop of our long day, it was a great experience. 

We finished the day with dinner in historically beautiful Union Station and an Amtrak trip back to New York. Overall it was fun day filled with some extremely insightful presenters who provided us with a wealth of knowledge. The Fordham Career Ambassador program gave me a great opportunity to go on this trip and I am extremely grateful that I took advantage of the opportunity. Although I participated in the opportunity through the FCA program, there were 22 other students who heard about it by paying attention to the Career Services emails and postings. The opportunities are out there, as our Alumni are always providing opportunities for students to network. Be on the lookout, and jump on any opportunity you can, I promise you will not regret it!

Intern Spotlight: Rachel Segrest

By Rachel Segrest, Gabelli 2014

In February 2012, I began wondering how the heck I was going to spend my summer.  After settling on living for three months in Manhattan, I began searching for internships. I’m a business management major, but I didn’t want to work at some souped up company. Wearing a suit and retrieving coffee were low on my priority list to say the least. While scouring Fordham’s Career Services website, CareerLink, I came across a listing for an intern at a small Ashtanga yoga studio in Harlem. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I imagined myself practicing yoga as I pleased and becoming a Zen goddess. Part of that came true, no need to specify which one.

After landing the internship at Land Yoga, I was welcomed right into the heart of the business. I was also encouraged to participate in as many yoga classes as I wanted. I knew next to nothing about yoga, but my boss and shala owner (shala is the more correct name for studio), Lara, entrusted more responsibility to me than I could’ve hoped for at a large corporation.  My projects would surprisingly encompass a variety of disciplines including marketing, PR, management, and IT.

I was in charge of many administrative tasks as well as a few things that were not part of the initial job description – which is part of the reason why I loved my internship. My first task as intern was to design and order shirts for the studio. Once UPS finally delivered them neatly folded in cardboard boxes, I secretly jumped for joy, reveling in my small success.

In addition to preparing orders, I also got to get out of the studio. After designing some promotional material for our pre and postnatal yoga classes, I mapped out all of the medical businesses that new moms frequented around upper Manhattan. Once finalizing my route, I spent a few workdays biking around and delivering the flyers I made. It was awesome. Wiping sweat from my brow, I would jump off my bike and waltz into doctors’ offices, negotiating whether or not I could post up the flyers. I learned a lot about interacting with people on those bike trips. Before I could speak with one Harlem doctor, I had to talk to three hardened nurses and then wait with some veteran employees on their lunch break in a small break room. Helmet in hand, I was considerably terrified by the time I was called in to speak with this doctor (who for some reason had the unreachable status of a politician). Long story short, the curtain closed with a genuine handshake, warm smiles, and my flyer posted in the hospital’s maternity wing.

As the summer pressed on, the ‘intern’ in my title quickly disappeared. I was the Operations Manager, and I could answer just about any question relating to Land Yoga that you could come up with…and I did. I loved interacting with the diverse people that frequented the studio. Many of them did not fit the regular yoga student stereotype; they were comedians, DJs, musicians, and business people. I even ended up with tickets to an Upper Eastside comedy show and a Hudson River concert cruise.

Before moving on to study abroad for a year, Lara enlisted me to create a manual to guide the future interns of Land Yoga. I really enjoyed putting what I had learned while working at Land into a cohesive guidebook for new employees to use. It was fun to anticipate the potential questions that the interns might have and allay their possible concerns by making a set of instructions for them. I trained a couple new interns before I left, but this manual helped to ensure that my support continued even after I was gone.

I took on the internship at Land Yoga because it was a young company that could afford me more experience than a big business. However, I still can’t believe how much I learned about owning and running a business while working there. I got to see the humanity behind business management. Overcoming obstacles, adapting to changes, and celebrating small triumphs were intertwined with doing handy work, teaching my boss about technology, and explaining the shala’s mission and offerings to potential students. Interning at Land was never boring, and although I may occasionally fall short of a Zen goddess, the experience I gained there has significantly aided my development into a resourceful and self-motivated member of society.

Intern Spotlight: Sofia Desenberg

By Sofia Desenberg, FCLC 2013

During my time at Fordham College Lincoln Center, I interned with a unique and innovative educational non-profit called Reach The World (RTW). Reach the World pairs elementary and middle school classes with college students who are studying abroad to build on-line relationships that deepen students' understandings of foreign nations and expose them to study abroad opportunities. Furthermore, the program's focus on Skype calls with travelers and online learning tools sharpens the technological skills of students and teachers. The study abroad students are often Gilman Scholarship recipients, and some of my fellow interns and supervisors are recipients as well. The scholarship has close ties with this organization, so if you are interested in the scholarship, this is a great organization to get involved with!

As an International Studies major with an interest in working in the non-profit sector,  the mission of RTW perfectly aligned with both my academic focus and my professional ambitions. I learned about the internship through a co-worker from my past position as a tutor - however I noticed that RTW is also a frequent presence at LC and RH career fairs!

At Reach The World, I gained valuable in-classroom experience as well as off-site leadership and communication skills. I was tasked with leading day-time and after-school lessons on global awareness, cross-cultural exchange, geography, and even international social and political issues with students as young as five and as old as fourteen. My coursework at Fordham tended to directly compliment my activity at RTW. My knowledge of international affairs and organizations allowed me to easily supplement the lessons and meet the needs of teachers. I remember walking into a third grade class and being greeted with "Ms. Sofia, if China has a president, does that mean it is a democracy like us?" Another seventh grader asked, "So you are telling me RTW can help me become a diplomat?" I answered no and yes respectively.

I also gained experience as the main point of contact between students, educators, and travelers. I learned lots of multi-tasking skills as I was constantly juggling communication between many people and working on different projects. I was consistently pushed to explore new possibilities when it came to bringing information and teaching techniques into the classrooms. Because of RTW's partnerships, I also gained experience with two other organizations - Citizen Schools and BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life). So through RTW, I actually received intern/volunteer experience with three organizations! It was an amazing opportunity to witness the inner workings of three separate non-profit agencies all striving for the same goal of bettering the educational opportunities for youth in NYC.

I perceive my experience in NYC classrooms - at a total of four different schools and eight different classes - as an advantage when it comes to working in education. I find that even Teach for America applicants rarely have in-classroom experience before they apply, and after working directly with students and teachers, I feel that I have a strengthened understanding of the field of education. Furthermore, I see how partnerships between schools and non-profits function.

Unlike other internships opportunities, RTW was concerned about my personal and professional growth and provided continued support instead of pressuring me to magically know the right answer. Although I was free to make my own trouble-shooting decisions and suggestions, my supervisors consistently offered helpful advice and solutions anytime I consulted them. I often hear complaints from interns at other organizations about the lack of opportunities to learn, but at RTW that was not my experience. We had three or four intern meetings per semester which offered planning support, sharing of best-practices, and my supervisor often slipped in lessons about professional development into planning meetings! For instance, we practiced pitching our final presentation ideas with short, on-the-spot speeches. I distinctly remember my supervisor noting a certain experience of mine as an answer to the common interview question "What is a challenge you encountered?" - And I use that answer to this day! I was so grateful for the close relationships I built with my supervisors and fellow interns and never felt abandoned or lost. During off-site events - intern meetings, social hours, fundraisers - I was able to practice networking skills that are still very valuable to me!

I spent two years with Reach The World. I love being able to discuss the unique mission of the organization to professional contacts and am very proud to be able to cite it as my current position. The organization always earns an eyebrow raise from whoever I am talking to and captures interest. I am currently being considered for a full-time position in non-profit management and could not have achieved an interview without my experience at RTW. As I make the transition into full-time work, I will continue to volunteer with Reach the World if I have some spare hours during the week. The pay-off of seeing students and teachers advance their understanding of the world around them as well as the strong personal relationships I have built will keep me coming back! I strongly recommend an internship with this efficient and well-run, modern, and unique organization to anyone with an interest in international education or non-profits.

Peace Corps Opportunities: Apply ASAP!

The Peace Corps is accepting applications through September for the following positions overseas!!

International Business Development Positions

Business Volunteers work to build local capacity and improve economic opportunities in communities. They participate at many levels, whether helping artisan cooperatives to market their handmade goods, training entrepreneurs in basic small business skills development, or working with micro-finance institutions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or municipalities to support local economic development projects.

For more info and to apply today, CareerLink JobID#: 10600

International Education Positions

This is the largest area of need for Peace Corps countries. Education Volunteers team-teach or directly teach English, health, literacy, math, and science. Education Volunteers strengthen local capacity by training and mentoring teachers in primary and secondary schools, teacher training colleges, and universities. Volunteers work with teachers to improve participatory teaching methodologies, inclusion practices, classroom management, authentic assessments, parental involvement, and gender equality in the classroom. They also create after-school programs, clubs, and camps for boys and girls to promote HIV/AIDS prevention and life skills.

For more info and to apply today, CareerLink JobID#: 10597

International Environment and Agriculture Positions

Agriculture

Volunteers work with small-scale farmers and families to increase food security and production and adapt to climate change while promoting environmental conservation practices. They introduce farmers to techniques that prevent soil erosion, reduce the use of harmful pesticides, and replenish the soil. They work alongside farmers on integrated projects that often combine vegetable gardening, livestock management, agroforestry, and food security.

Environment

Volunteers become leaders in grassroots efforts to protect and conserve the environment, engaging in projects that establish forest conservation plans and help promote alternative energy practices, integrate environmental curricula in schools, and promote alternative energy practices. They also collaborate with various organizations to promote environmental awareness activities such as wastewater management, recycling, environmental youth clubs, and park management.

For more info and to apply today, CareerLink JobID#: 10601

International Health Positions

Health Volunteers work with local governments, clinics, nongovernmental organizations, and communities at the grassroots level, where the need is most urgent and the impact can be the greatest. They focus on outreach, social and behavior change in public health, hygiene, water sanitation, and HIV/AIDS. Health Volunteers work in both formal and informal settings, targeting the groups most affected by a particular health issue.

For more info and to apply today, CareerLink JobID#: 10598

International Youth and Community Positions

Volunteers work with youth to develop skills for transitioning from school to work, preparing for family life, and becoming engaged and active citizens in their communities. Volunteers also serve a valuable role in reaching special populations, such as orphans, street children, youth with disabilities, and other vulnerable young people. Volunteers build the capacity of the local people and organizations who work with youth.

For more info and to apply today, CareerLink JobID#: 10599

Why Peace Corps?

Peace Corps service is a life-defining leadership experience.

Since 1961, the Peace Corps has shared with the world America's most precious resource – its people. Volunteers serve in over 70 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, South America, Europe, the Pacific Islands and the Middle East. Peace Corps Volunteers live, learn, and work with a community overseas for 27 months, providing technical assistance in six program areas: education, youth and community development, health, business and information and communications technology, agriculture, and environment.

The most significant accomplishment will be the contribution you make to improve the lives of others. There are also tangible benefits, including the following Peace Corps provisions:

- Student loan assistance

- A "readjustment" allowance of $7,425 (pre-tax) upon completion of service

- Language, cross-cultural, and technical training

- Travel to and from country of service

- A monthly living and housing allowance

- Full medical and dental coverage

- 48 paid vacation days

- Unique graduate school opportunities

- Leave for family emergencies

- Transition and job support and social networking after service

- Advantages in federal employment

- Opportunities for short-term assignments through Peace Corps Response

- No fee to participate