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 dive into Burke McLaughlin’s internship experience at Summit Real Estate Holdings this past summer. Burke, a Global Commerce major, interned as a Real Estate agent when working down in Tampa, Florida. Burke is also a senior soccer player and president of Kappa Sigma at Denison. We take time to ask Braden a few questions about his summer internship experience.
- How was your overall experience during your summer internship?
- I had a great experience with my internship. It was very interesting to learn about overall the Commercial Real Estate industry and very insightful to learn about one sector of it.
- What were some key things you learned during your experience?
- One of the key things I learned was how to use excel to build out financial models. Also learning the valuation process for properties was extremely helpful.
- Do you feel this internship offered a greater understanding for where you view yourself professionally, and after college?
- I believe that this internship helped me get a better understanding of what I would like to do professionally, but not necessarily in this specific sector of the industry.
- How was the environment and culture of your company?
- The environment and culture were great. Everyone that’d worked there was always willing to help when we ran into some issues in any way they could. They also provided a great structure to work and learn under especially when we went from in person to remote.
- What advice would you offer to fellow students when applying for internships?
- Start your search process early and try to talk to as many people as you can to start building up your network. Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions when you either feel stuck or discouraged.
As we can see, Burke’s experience really helped pave his professional path for the future and set the foundations for what he envisions post-graduation. Being curious, ambitious, and utilizing those skills learned, on and off the field, throughout his time at Denison made his internship experience that much more impactful. Burke has set a great example for fellow Denison students to follow and flourish during their summer internship experience.
