As one of the nation top academic and athletic liberal arts schools, Denison prides itself on the success of their student-athletes on and off the field. This past summer, numerous of Denison student-athletes took part in summer internships across the nation. Today, we take a deeper look into AC Veith’s experience, as she worked in Dallas as a public finance intern at Hilltop Securities this past summer. AC is a senior at Denison, majoring in Financial Economics, and is a captain on the Field Hockey team. We take time to ask AC a few questions about her summer internship experience.
- How was your overall experience during your summer internship?
- I had an overall positive experience working as a public finance investment banking intern. As a financial economics major, I was extremely interested in breaking into the finance industry and exploring a new city. For the first time, I was able to work in an investment bank which provided me with opportunities to be in a high-paced office environment.
- What were some key things you learned during your experience?
- This summer, I learned how to work in a team-office environment with peers, how to make personal and professional connections with colleagues, and most importantly excel. My summer-long project was reworking credit models and I learned so many excel shortcuts that made life significantly easier.
- Do you feel this internship offered a greater understanding for where you view yourself professionally, and after college?
- This summer offered a greater understanding of what I hope my career path will look like after graduation. After working at Hilltop, I realized that I don’t want to work in public finance. Although it was a great experience, I found a passion for consulting and will be starting that career journey at Accenture upon graduation.
- How was the environment and culture of your company?
- Hilltop, and specifically the public finance division, was a positive and supportive environment. The office was just starting back to in-person work, so all the employees were excited to be back with one another and have a shared space to collaborate. The public finance team was a close-knit group of individuals that looked to build connections with one another out of the office and they welcomed me and the two other interns with open arms.
- What advice would you offer to fellow students when applying for internships?
- My biggest piece of advice for applying to internships is not to get discouraged in the process. Starting early was helpful for me to see what opportunities were out there, but after a while of applying to arguably too many internships, I began to doubt my own abilities. Through a lot of positive reinforcement and bi-weekly meetings with a career coach in the Knowlton Center, I was finally able to accept an offer in April. Every industry has a different timeline, so taking your time in applying to internships is important.
As we can see, AC’s experience really helped set her professional path for the future. Being authentic and utilizing skills learned, on and off the field, throughout her time at Denison made her internship experience that much more impactful. AC has set a great example for fellow Denison students to follow and flourish during their summer internship experience.
