Arriving at the Hurar Investment Group for my first day was both exciting and intimidating; I had only been in Spain for about one week and was still adjusting to the new language, culture, and pace of life.  I came to the office, which was a flurry of activity, and was greeted by my supervisor.  I was shown the entire office, introduced to the rest of the employees, and then given an office of my own from which I would work.  The work done through Hurar Investment Group is focused on hotels – purchasing property around the city of Málaga, designing a hotel for the space, pitching to investors for funding, building the hotel, and turning over the finished hotel to someone else to manage.  I am interested in economics and sustainable development so I was curious to see how the government regulations regarding new building construction in Spain compared with the United States.  I was given a copy of the Documento Básico, which outlines the energy requirements for new buildings to meet regarding energy demand, building materials, solar hot water heaters, and the use of solar or renewable energies.  This was my first experience reading technical Spanish, so it was equal parts frustrating and rewarding.  I discovered that the energy requirements were much more progressive than I had anticipated- 50% of all hot water must be heated through solar, and approximately 20% of the hotels energy demand is met by renewable energy.

I am very excited to see what my opportunities are as my work progresses here, between the architectural components of designing passive solar buildings and reviewing the cash flow statements of hotels to create accurate estimates of costs and revenues.  After learning about the technical aspects of the hotels, I will be able to incorporate my knowledge into the marketing presentations that are shown to potential investors.  I hope to emphasize the sustainability efforts of the hotels, because this is becoming a more important element for potential tourists and many of the competing hotels do not mention their conservation and sustainability programs. This could provide an edge for Hurar Investment Group, and would give me hands-on marketing experience.  All of the documents I work with are written in Spanish, which is helping me improve my language skills, but has also shown me the difficulties of working in a non-native language.  I have a better understanding of the challenges that non-native English speakers face daily in America.  On a large scale, having the opportunity to work abroad and experience the cultural differences in workplaces and customer relationships will be eye-opening and challenging, and will ultimately allow me to return to the US as a more well-rounded employee suited to work in an international company.

I’m here and finally settled into Troy.  I also ended up procrastinating writing about this move for two weeks.  For those of you who don’t know, I was lucky enough to be selected to be an intern for Pauline Oliveros and the Deep Listening Institute through Lawrence’s Conservatory Squared Program.

It is hard to pin down exactly what my first day was like because after I got settled in some small projects were thrown at me. As I completed these projects, the workload increased until we got to this the work started gradually overtime and has slowly added up to some larger projects.

So what sort of projects does this internship bring?

*I will help the Deep Listening Institute currently located in Kingston, New York make the transition into “The Center for Deep Listening” at RPI in Troy.

*I will help in any way possible leading up to the 2nd Annual International Conference on Deep Listening.

*Help Leaf Miller with the AUMI (Adaptive Use Musical Instruments) program in preparation for a presentation on the AUMI.

*And I will assist Pauline and the rest of the conference staff in whatever way I can.  Right now that means help organize Pauline’s book that she is working on.

It’s looking like a great summer and an amazing chance to work with phenomenal musicians.

My first week working at the New York Jazz Academy has been a rapid immersion into the life of a working musician and business owner.  It has been a week full of problem solving, creative brainstorming, budgeting concerns, and all that other adult stuff I was told I would encounter in the future.  Well, it turns out that stuff is real.

The first day on the job involved a complete scheduling crisis.  NYJA rents space from the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and has been doing so for the past several years.  Upon arriving at the church to double check dates and times, program director Javier Arau and I found that NYJA was completely absent from the schedule and the scheduling coordinator was nowhere to be found.  With classes starting in a few days and people flying in from all over the world to attend this program, this was a major problem.  After an hour of working NYJA back into the schedule, Javier turned to me and said, “There’s always a solution.  People will tell you it can’t be fixed, but there’s always a solution.” That turned out to be our mantra for the week.

I was also fortunate enough to be involved with test filming for a series of online lessons that NYJA hopes to launch.  After we had finished filming for the day, Javier and I discussed the challenges of teaching through video: being engaging when there’s no immediate feedback, effectively communicating information in a short period of time, stylistic approaches, attracting a wide audience base, etc.  It was great to be working so closely with Javier as he starts to develop new ideas to expand his business.

Classes begin next week and I can’t wait to see things in full swing.  The summer is off to a fantastic start!

Walking into the offices of the National Basketball Retired Players Association on the first day of my internship was a lot like checking into my first college basketball game. The nerves were definitely present, but I knew the game plan for the day. I had the plays down: the firm handshake with eye contact, the cordial greeting, the genuine smile, and the thankful attitude for “having me on board this summer.” Moreover, I accomplished all of the little things as I prepared for the day: I laid out my clothes the night before, got a great night’s sleep, had a wonderful breakfast in preparation for the big day. I was ready.

Looking back after two weeks now with the NBRPA, my first day could not have gone smoother. As I had spent my spring term studying abroad at the London Centre, I didn’t have the ability to make my way into the office for an interview or to meet my supervisor in the springtime. Thus, upon my arrival, she gave me a full introductory tour of our offices on the 16th floor of the 175 Building on Jackson Boulevard right in downtown Chicago. Next, she individually introduced me to all of the staff members who kindly welcomed me to the Association. Then, I found my way to the space that I would be sharing with my fellow interns for the summer. The day flew by as I spent my time reading through the internship handbook, soaking up all the information from our event binders, and completing other training tasks. All in all, the first day was a success, and I was excited to build a routine and move onto day two.

The anticipation and excitement that comes with a summer internship may have been quadrupled for me. By leveraging some connections within the Lawrence alumni network and the Lawrence Scholars in Business program, I was able to secure an opportunity that was directly related to my personal as well as career interests and in the location that I desired — the city of Chicago. For as long as I can remember, I have always hoped to combine my passion for sports and business, and this summer at the NBRPA – the official alumni association of the NBA, ABA, Harlem Globetrotters, and WNBA – presents a great opportunity to do just that. As I rotate through different departments of the Association, I look forward to gaining experience in several different functions of business and thoroughly enjoying my internship this summer.