Me & fellow interns outside of UN headquarters

As an intern with the United Nations Foundation, I was able to take a trip to New York with fellow co-workers and interns to visit the United Nations headquarters.  We met with our office in New York and then dined in the Delegate’s Dining Hall at the UN.  After lunch, we were able to tour the UN headquarters and sit inside the UN General Assembly hall.  It was such a cool experience!

Time is passing quickly in D.C. and in my internship.  I am loving every minute of it and wish I had more than a month left.  Recently, my supervisor has requested that I attend Senate and House committee hearings on the Hill that relate to the US relationship with the UN.  I am learning so much every day and gaining a better knowledge of the working relationship between US government and the UN.

This past week has been very busy. From visitors last weekend to the start of month close, I’ve definitely had my hands full.

Driving down A1A

Last weekend, I had three of my friends from Butler spend their fall break with me. Every day was a new adventure, I got visit some beaches and restaurants I had never been to before as well as experience a bit of the Miami nightlife. I’m a mobile DJ up in Indiana, so when I had the opportunity to go to a dance club, I jumped on it. I think I was more amazed by the impressive sound system than anything else, and the light show was unreal.

We're experiencing high culture at a play!

We also explored a bit of Lincoln road, a very upbeat part of the city. There are quite a few street performers, so I’m tempted to bring my keyboard down there. We perused a few of the typical tourist shops, and I think the girls really liked that. We also got to see a play in a black box theater at the University of Miami. How cultural!

Friends from Butler!

As I had mentioned, month close is now in full swing. I’m responsible for making several journal entries and speaking with our associates in Ireland. The work can be quite tedious, but I manage. I think I’m finally getting a good grasp at one of the more difficult entries, so each month I’m feeling more confident in my work. I’m also getting a few more responsibilities with standard costs, so I’m very excited to be helping out as much as I can.

Cheers for now!

The month of October is turning out to be really busy! With Fall Break gone, midterms underway, and Halloween approaching, I am being pulled in all sorts of directions. Last weekend kicked off the current event at the Zoo, ZooBoo. I’ve been preparing for this since I started in August, and have a few weeks left. ZooBoo will continue Oct 22-25 and 29-30, from 2-7pm. If you have any little brothers or sisters, or children you babysit, you should bring them out! There are a lot of fun activities going on like pumpkin bowling, a hay maze, not-so-scary animal show, and a magical train ride. Here are a few pictures I’ve taken from the event.

As far as school, it seems like this semester is nearing the end (even though it’s only halfway done!) It seems unreal that we are already getting ready to register for spring classes.

Hope everyone had a great Fall Break and goodluck with midterms

On Calle Ocho

This past weekend, the family flew in and we celebrated their 30th anniversary and my 21st birthday. The entire weekend was a blast, we explored a bit of 8th Street (Calle Ocho?) and saw parts of Miami I hadn’t explored. Lunch on Saturday was fantastic: it was at a stereotypical cuban restaurant, complete with tile floors and cuban decor. Afterwards, we roamed around Miami and explored quite a bit. I showed my folks where I’m working, and the gym I like going to.

That evening, we went out to celebrate my parents anniversary and my birthday. The restaurant was beautifully situated on an island just south of Coconut Grove, overlooking downtown Miami to the left and Key Biscayne to the right. The food was great, but it was even better getting to spend some time with my parents and sister.

I'm quizzing her

All in all, I think they enjoyed themselves down here. My sister is taking a music test at Butler on Tuesday, so before they boarded the plane on Sunday, she and I reviewed some of her terms and concepts. I really enjoyed that. I have some more visitors coming in on Wednesday, so I’m really looking forward to them getting down here!

-Mike

Hello everyone, my name is Kurt Olsen and I am a senior Marketing major at Butler University. I am currently working, however, in a different field of business to gain some new experience as I develop my career path. I am the Human Resources Intern at Emmis Communications.

Emmis is a media company operating radio stations and publications in large and medium-sized markets in areas such as Indy, St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, and New York. The company also operates radio stations in Belgium, Slovakia, and Hungary. The corporate office is located on Monument Circle, in downtown Indy and is absolutely incredible. Besides the awesome views from every window except one (with the label of ‘worst view in the building’), the building itself is contemporary, lively, and welcoming.

I chose to step into a field outside of my major because I have always had an interest in Human Resources and had an opportunity to take some HR classes while abroad on one of Butler’s direct business school exchanges at HEC Montreal in Montreal, Quebec. I have interest in working with employee relations as well as recruitment, but also am interested in learning a little more about the field, as I do not have as much exposure to it.

This past summer I completed an internship with State Farm Insurance in Rohnert Park, CA. In this position I helped new State Farm agents to utilize the marketing resources State Farm made available to its agents and how to customize them to better fit an individual agent’s market.

Drawing from this experience, I am excited to work with employees to help them be successful and productive in order to better serve Emmis. In the short month I have been here, I have already learned more from the on-the-job experience than I could from sitting in a classroom for a semester.

This semester will keep me busy as I juggle 15 credit hours (all taken on Tuesdays and Thursdays), my position at Emmis, as well as my extracurricular activities. I look forward to keeping you all updated on my semester and please feel free to comment with any questions you have about my experience at Emmis or State Farm.

      Hello everyone!

My name is Erica Steele and I am a senior in the College of Business, majoring in Marketing. I am from the small town of Wabash, Indiana. Some of my different interests include singing loudly in my car, watching (and buying) movies, and cheering on the Bulldogs!

This year, I am the Marketing Intern at the Indianapolis Zoo! I started at the end of August, and have been asked to stay on staff until the end May. At the Zoo, my specific area is Special Events and Advertising, which I love. During the fall, the Zoo gears up for its two biggest annual events, ZooBoo and Christmas at the Zoo. My life is revolved around these events, making sure that everything is organized. Particular responsibilities that I have include creating advertisements that are passed out at the Zoo, setting up donations for different volunteer activities, purchasing supplies for the different events, setting up choir performances for Christmas, and making sure that we have enough candy for ZooBoo (250,000 pieces!). Working at the Zoo this year has been and is going to be a great experience, and I’m looking forward . And besides, all I have to do is walk out the back door and I get to see all the awesome animals!

I’ll start uploading some pictures from the different events we’ve already completed, like our Radio Disney Back to School Concert and Hispanic Heritage Fiesta!

Hope everyone is having a great semester so far

-Erica

My Cubicle and Desk

Hello from South Florida!

My name’s Mike Tirman, and I’m a Junior in the College of Business at Butler University. I’m currently a double major in Finance & Music (my principal instrument is piano), and I am in Miami, Florida working for Johnson & Johnson. I have been down here for the past three months and have another three months to go. I work in Operations Consolidation, and my role is to consolidate spending information from all of the operating plants for my company (Cordis Corporation). We specialize in producing stents, but we also produce a number of catheters and diagnostic guide wires for the treatment of cardiovascular  diseases. Overall, the job has given me a wonderful perspective on the entire manufacturing process and the financial support needed to run this size of an operation.

Outside of work, I’m trying to stay as active as possible. Aside from what seems to be the weekly road trip to various destinations in South Florida, I am also keeping up my piano and going out with friends. I recently took a trip into the Florida Keys and spent the weekend lounging on the beach and kayaking. The food down here in unbelievable; there’s a great deal of cuban and latin influences, so everything from seafood to cuban sandwiches are delectable. Trying to save money in Miami has been near impossible, there’s so much to do and so many things I want to see!

I’ll be on the blog a couple of times a week. If there’s anything you’re interested in hearing about, or want some more information, feel free to contact me. I’m on facebook and Butler email, so I’ll repsond to anyone’s questions!

Take care,

-Mike

Me on the National Mall!

My first few days in D.C. were much like the first few days I spent abroad in Italy last fall.  This time however, I not only found myself in a brand new environment, but also was about to start a brand new internship!  But how did I get to D.C. to begin with?

Since my freshman year at Butler, I knew I wanted to have an internship in the Indianapolis area and an internship in a larger city.  As an International Management major, I wanted to be in a city that dealt with international issues and housed multiple international organizations.  I have long had interest in the work of the United Nations. My two options for interning for a U.N. affiliated organization in America was New York or Washington, D.C.  I had heard of numerous CoB students who participated in Butler’s Washington D.C. Internship Program and absolutely loved it, so it just made sense for me to take advantage of the opportunity as well.

Once I was accepted into the D.C. Internship Program, I started exploring my internship options (which are endless in D.C.).  I learned about the United Nations Foundation through one of the D.C. program coordinators and decided to pursue an internship there.  The power of networking and a solid resume, which had been critiqued by Butler’s Internship and Career Services, helped me secure an internship with the United Nations Foundation.

I work for the Better World Campaign (BWC) within the United Nations Foundation. BWC serves as the policy arm that works to promote a strong, effective relationship between the United States and the United Nations through outreach, communications, and advocacy.

In the short month that I have been interning with the United Nations Foundation, I have learned a lot of information!  My tasks vary daily, but I conduct a lot of research on UN Peacekeeping Missions that will go into the UN Peacekeeping website that will be launched later this month.  I also help maintain databases to ensure that contact information is accurate, among many other projects.  Overall, I am really enjoying my internship with the United Nations Foundation so far and I absolutely love D.C.!

More posts to come…