For the first four weeks of the summer, I lived the life of a couch potato catching up on all the TV shows and movies I was not able to watch during my busy schedule sophomore year. I also got to spend time with my parents and my two little brothers.
For the following ten weeks, I worked as a Sophomore Summer Business Analyst (SSBA) at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, at their office in Los Angeles, California. My relationship with McKinsey & Company started when a recruiter messaged me on Handshake, a platform for students to search for job and internship opportunities, about an immersive two-day workshop for freshmen. I applied and participated the summer after my freshman year. During this workshop, I learned about the company and the application process for their SSBA program. I used what I learned during this workshop for my application and was accepted!
During my ten weeks at the firm, I received onboarding training and participated on an internal project that I enjoyed. I worked on an amazing team with two other interns, an engagement manager, and an executive director. I have grown a lot professionally in networking and in my use of Microsoft Office especially Outlook, Excel, and Powerpoint. I learned a lot about McKinsey and its strategies for problem solving. The environment was rigorous but also positive. I really enjoyed working there and look forward to returning after graduation!
I chose the LA office because I have always been drawn to the city, and I wanted to know what it would be like to live there. I definitely took advantage of living in LA as I went to plays and musicals, explored many museums, regularly worked out at a boxing gym, ate lots of yummy food, hit a large number of LA “spots,” and even attended a Jimmy Kimmel Live! show. While there is nothing wrong with having an internship in your hometown, some advice I would give to people applying for internships is to choose a new city that you are interested in exploring. Living across the country away from my family and close friends was scary at first, but I have grown so much personally because of it. I found comfort in my own company and redefined what I thought it meant to be independent.