An essay on internship experiences and professional development

¶ … driven person, I did not select the research-oriented investment banking program by accident. Rather, I consciously seek experiences and encounters that will maximize my business acumen and leadership potential. Moreover, I know that the SEO internship program offers its participants invaluable networking connections that can and do benefit all persons involved, connections that in this case specifically apply to the field of investment banking and research economics. Having already started my own company and invested several years of my life into business management, I now need a rigorous program of work and study that will prepare me for exponential personal and professional growth. What I want in the near and distant future is clear: a challenging and stimulating profession in high-level finance; I know the SEO program will contribute to the fulfillment of those goals.

Part Two

Success is relative to the caliber of our dreams; a person cannot be fairly judged by any external benchmarks of success other than a sense of satisfaction. Therefore, a sanitation worker who gets up in the morning proud to go to work and enthusiastic about the day ahead can be considered as successful as any Fortune 500 CEO. Yet I have been both blessed and cursed with the possession of humongous business ambitions. While my goals offer me a kick in the pants that we all need, they can also be tyrannical reminders that I have yet to completely fulfill my dreams. I often need to remind myself that by anyone's standards I have already demonstrated three distinct yet related types of success: the sense of satisfaction I referred to earlier, interpersonal success based on my impact on others, and a more objective success evident in my professional career.

The latter type of success is perhaps the simplest to describe. Seven years ago I launched my own company. From the ground up I built Drame Import/Export in Manhattan, from the development of a sound business plan to the management of our fifteen employees. Conceiving, executing, and operating a successful enterprise spell success, especially insofar as my company hopefully represented the first of many such successful endeavors. As I continue to expand my entrepreneurial talents and vision, I hope that I will consistently cultivate and experience this objective type of success.

Equally as important as objective commercial success in the business world is a related concept: interpersonal success. I judge this based on the views of coworkers, employees, and customers. If my current actions as a marketing representative and top salesman with Wellcare of New York inspire others, then I am a success. If my past history of team management shows a similar tendency to uplift those around me, then I am a success. Leaders by definition must demonstrate interpersonal success if they are to be effective.

Finally, the most subtle form of success comes from within and is manifest as self-satisfaction and personal pride. If I know that I have done all I can and still fail at the task, I can still feel like a success. Satisfaction and joy derive not from money or power but from the application of energy towards a specific goal. For someone like me who has clear visions and ambitions, this type of personal success in many ways trumps the other two.