What and where did you study before your Mountbatten internship?

I studied communication at the University of Utah with an emphasis on strategic communication and minored in Business.

What made you apply for the Mountbatten program?

I was fresh out of school, and I needed to build a foundation to branch out from professionally. The economy made it very competitive for new graduates without specialized degrees.

Describe your sponsor company and your role within it.

I was placed with Liquidnet Europe. I served as a Support Specialist where I helped answer Tier 1 level support calls from Traders.  During my experience I gained critical thinking skills and some SQL programming knowledge.

What was the highlight/most memorable moment of your working experience during this year?

I enjoyed the people that I worked and made friends with, especially the nuggets of wisdom I got from mentors in between the day-to-day internship. Also, taking on uncomfortable challenges made me anxious however looking back those were where I experienced the most growth.

What was the social highlight/most memorable moment during this year?

When a friend from China ordered an authentic Chinese food dinner without looking at the menu. I then realized I didn’t like real Chinese food at all, however the experience was worth it.

Be Please share a little wisdom/philosophy that you acquired during your internship

Pay attention to the small things and write them down.

Upon reflection, what do you consider has been the biggest impact of your Mountbatten year?

Learning to stretch my technical skills and having the confidence to take on new things. I learned the necessity to be a lifelong learner.

What happened after completing the year – what did you do next?

I eventually got into a marketing analyst role. At the same time, I started a passion project learning web development. Fortunately, I use both disciplines in my career today.

Where are you now in your working life and what do you do?

I work at JourneyTEAM, a microsoft partner consulting firm in Salt Lake City, where I lead Customer Relationship Management projects spanning sales, marketing, customer service, and field service applications.

Do you have any future plans that you would like to realise & what are they (career & social)

Like many professionals in the bizapps space I hope to continue to learn how to effectively leverage AI to solve problems. In my personal life I try to find meaning and purpose outside of work as much as possible.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

It took me a long time to find my career groove but if it weren’t for my vast experiences I wouldn’t have the depth I do now.