Over the summer while working on our Career Services’ web site to create a new fellowship section, I noticed our underdeveloped gap-year program resources. After talking with Assistant Director James Jeffries and Director Scott Crawford, they let me redesign and boost our gap year resources and information. This gap year refocus seemed to impact our graduating student body, including myself.

This upcoming summer I will begin working with Citizen Schools as a Teaching Fellow. I will work for two years on the South Side of Chicago in a struggling middle school that extends their school day by three hours to give students more individualized attention and experiential learning. Though the program’s extended learning time, Citizen Schools hope to break the vicious cycle of the underprivileged by giving them real-world experience and academic mentoring.

Other students have undertaken similar challenges to handle global and international struggles. This year over 5% of our student body have accepted positions to teach and volunteer in prestigious gap-year programs!

• ·         Tyler Griffin, Teach for America, Atlanta, GA
• ·         Jose Herrera, Teach for America, Indianapolis, IN
• ·         Alejandro Maya, Teach for America, Tulsan City, OK
• ·         Francisco Olivia, Teach for America, Indianapolis, IN
• ·         Wyatt Lewis, Schuler Program, Chicago, IL
• ·         Ronnie Sullivan, Schuler Program, Chicago, IL
• ·         Garrett Wilson, Citizen Schools, Chicago, IL
• ·         Matt Paul, Culver Academies, Culver, IN
• ·         Charles Hintz, Peace Corps, Mozambique, Africa
• ·         Keaton Becher, Cross Hill Mennonite School, Cross Hill, SC
• ·         Logan Rice, Wuxi Big Bridge Academy, English Teacher, Wuxi China

Until recently, gap year programs have been uncommon in the United States. Many gap year programs developed over the past 20 years in a variety of different fields ranging from agricultural, education, civic service and internships. Now, thousands of recent high school and college graduates are exploring gap-year possibilities before and after college.

If you are unsure what you want to do after college or want to try something different, try a gap-year program. You will be able to travel, explore and go outside your comfort zone. I am nervous about my experience, but I am ready to try something unexpected.

While this may be the title of one of my favorite Jimmy Buffett songs, it also shows how far the helping hands of Wabash Alumni are willing to reach. Like many of my fellow students, past, present, and future, I seized one of the best opportunities Wabash has to offer. This semester I am fortunate enough to study at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Yes, this is the same St. Andrews known as the “Home of Golf.” Anyways, over here, I get to enjoy not one, but two weeks of spring vacation. I planned my whole break out in the first weeks of February to save money on all my travel. In my typical lacking common sense style, I booked travel, then rooming, and finally looked at bus fares (hint: look at bus fares first!). My plan was to leave Friday the 15th from St. Andrews on a bus to Glasgow, hop on a train for Manchester, catch a United game the following day, leave Sunday to head for a village called Oban (where the Clan MacDougall officially resides), Monday through Wednesday afternoon explore the coast of Scotland (beautiful views), grab a train from Oban to Glasgow that night, take the bus back to St. Andrews, and play unlimited golf at the Old Course and the other six courses the next week and a half.

However the Monday that I was relaxing in Oban, I realized that my train would get to Glasgow after the last bus of the evening for St. Andrews left. Realizing that I could be out another 30 plus pounds (that’s two weeks of groceries), I frantically began thinking of where I could stay. A quick side note, I am NOT a hostel type of person. All the other people I met from Glasgow were from the University football (soccer) teams I played against, and let’s just say they were not too thrilled about this American goalkeeper at the end of the game. I noticed that there was still bus service to Edinburgh after my arrival in Glasgow, so my mind quickly turned to a night there. Again, besides the football pitch, I did not know that many people in Edinburgh, let alone know them well enough to stay for the night. As I was browsing through the hotels in Glasgow and Edinburgh (not cheap at all), I saw an email from Scott pop up in my inbox. Then, I remembered skimming through and then deleting an email Scott sent out about a year ago. Luckily for me, I found it sitting in my trash. The email referred to a new service called Bash Bunks.

I figured why not give it a try, even though the chances of an open Wabash bed in Scotland were the same as the Cubs’ chances to win a World Series. After logging on through the MyBash page on the website, I found this massive map of the world with little red indicators all over the United States. There were places in New York, Florida, and California, but surely enough, one small dot landed in Edinburgh, Scotland. Almost immediately, I submitted a request and began praying. You see, the site calls for two weeks advance notice. James Jefferies sent me the email of a young Wabash Alumnus to contact about a room for that night. Mark Osnowitz ’12 told me that I could crash on his couch for the night. Instant relief consumed me. He gave me his address and number and told text him when I got there.

Unfortunately, my train arrived late, meaning I would have to wait another 30-45 minutes to catch the next bus. Mark just told me to have a safe trip. I got off the bus around 11:15 at night and began following the Google Maps directions on my phone. A nice cool evening through one of the best parts of the city, I got to his flat around 11:45. To be honest, for a young married couple earning postgraduate degrees, I was shocked when I walked through the door. The apartment was beautiful, even with a brief tour I still managed to locate a few items with a smiling Wally Wabash. I think a picture was the only way to appreciate their place. Mark showed me to the living room and the couch that would serve as my bed for the night. I probably passed out within five minutes of my head hitting the pillow. The next morning I was up rather early to take the first bus (I had a tee time that afternoon). Lindsey, Mark’s wife, graciously woke him up so I could say thank you and good-bye. A total of 7 hours in Edinburgh reaffirmed my appreciation for Wabash. A simple click of button online and a helping hand from one Wabash man to another alleviated all that stress I felt Monday evening. Obviously, I don’t think my rooming issues were not the intended reasons to use Bash Bunks. However, if I ever need a room for an evening when I have to travel for an interview or a project of some kind, I know that, if it is in the US, a Wabash man will be there to help me out. Just like in the States, the Gentlemen’s Rule and the traits Wabash instills in us are clearly evident on the far side of the world

Prospective students will hear how helpful the Wabash faculty and alumni are when they visit for Honor Scholar Weekend. Admissions and students advertised the same things to me when I was a senior. Part of me thought these advertisements were exaggerated, but I recently discovered I was wrong—all I needed to do was take the first step and reach out.

I reached out to Professor of Economics Kealoha Widdows about potential summer-school options. I met with Professor Widdows and discussed my post-Wabash ambitions. She told me to work with Career Services and required I report back to her. I’ll admit my mother had urged me to visit Kane House for a year, but I never made it over. However, I found I was much more accountable when a professor requests something from me!

I worked with Scott Crawford and other Peer Career Advisors to update and improve my resume. More importantly, I was urged to contact Wabash alumni. Again, I took the first step and reached out to Mark Osnowitz ’12 via LinkedIn.

Just because the field isn’t in playing shape doesn’t mean the front office isn’t working hard.

A few summers ago, Osnowitz interned with the Normal Cornbelters, a professional baseball team in the Frontier League in Normal, IL. I have an interest in sports business and thought an externship with a small organization would be very beneficial because I could absorb all the business’ aspects.

Osnowitz was more than willing to help and played an instrumental role in me landing the externship. After a few messages on LinkedIn, Osnowitz contacted team President and Owner Steve Malliet and General Manager Kyle Kreger. Osnowitz put in a very good word for me. From that point on, it was up to me not to screw up and fortunately I was able to avoid any mishaps.

I spent between two and three hours per day with the office staff over spring break. Each day consisted something new and ranged from stadium management to ticket sales. The Cornbelters’ front-office staff only has seven full-time employees so the different departments are a one or two-man operation with the help of a handful of interns. The staff provided me with personal attention every day and was excited to help me learn, similar to the Wabash faculty.

My week started by shadowing Kreger. He oversees an umbrella of responsibilities including ticket sales, corporate sponsors, and community relations. He also holds the power to make personnel decisions, but leaves them to his coaches and scouting department.

“Ticket Sales Tuesday” occurred the following day. I met with Vice President of Ticket Sales Joe Rejc. Always looking to improve, Rejc explained how the team planned to increase ticket sales from last season. He reiterated what Kreger had told me, that more groups (churches, businesses, youth baseball teams etc.) would be targeted this season. After laying out the strategy, he showed me March’s game plan. Rejc and other sales members are required to hit specific sales numbers and if everybody accomplishes their goals, the team will increase its sales.

The other part of the revenue stream is corporate sponsorships. Director of Corporate Partnerships Lori Johnson met with me Wednesday to explain her job. She sells advertising space inside and outside the ballpark for local businesses such as outfield signs, box suites, and billboards. She also handles trades, which occur when the Cornbelters give advertising to a local business in exchange for that business’ services. For instance, if a new player has nowhere to stay, he may live in a hotel for a certain amount of time and the hotel will get free advertising at the Cornbelters games. The team doesn’t receive revenue from trades, but costs are less if not zero.

Kreger harped about starting out in ticket or corporate sales. He said every employer wants to know how he can increase his revenue and if you intern in a sales position, you can put that number by your name and quantify your skills.

Hopkinson ’15 saw a lot of faces of the organization in a short time

Stadium Operations Manager Ryan Eberle showed me the Corn Crib on Thursday. Eberle is responsible for a variety of tasks—stadium and locker room cleanliness, utilities, dugout and field conditions to name a few. He is also in charge of event and game-day logistics.

I spent my last day with Business Manager Heather Manint. She handles the team store, accounting, and other general business activities. Friday alone entailed of meetings with a health-care provider and sales tax auditor. 

I finished my job-shadow experience with a much better idea of sports business operations and where my interests lie. I plan to heed Kreger’s advice and look for an internship in ticket or corporate sales in the future—possibly even with the Cornbelters. The gentle shove from Professor Widdows and enthusiastic help from Osnowitz and Career Services made this possible.

Zuo ’16 gets his feet wet with an externship in Chicago

My externship started as soon as the semester was over. Working in the Financial First building next to Chicago Board of Trade in downtown Chicago gave me a completely different working experience. During this externship, I felt I was treated as an actual intern because everyone in the office was always willing to help patiently and took my questions seriously. At the very first week, Mr. Castro helped me go through most of the basic finance terms and concepts and taught me how to conduct effective finance researches. He showed me how the business was operated from different offices and how the stock trading was executed as a whole. Later on, he started to put me in front of different desks to see how different sectors of the business works.  I went to the back office to see how they do the daily clearing of all the trading records, traveled to the compliance office to see how they keep track of every executed stock, and I have been to the actual CBOE trading floor to see how brokers start the trade by making their first calls.  Castro not only helped me to get better comprehensive approaches to the stocks trading and finance world, but also helped me expand my social networks. I also helped my boss to write buy and sell tickets on a daily basis to better understand the nature of business.

I should say this is definitely the most unique externship going through Wabash Career Services.  Since the duration of this externship is one month- which is much longer than any other ordinary two-day job shadowing externship- I received more chances to interact with other people in the office. At the end of the externship, I could greet everyone in the office by their names and their normal lunch orders. And unlike other “employers,” my boss bought me launch every day. In order to show the special cares for the international minorities in the office, we had Chinese-Tuesday every week. Furthermore, being a freshman, I am a blank sheet of paper to this “messy” industry, so Castro assigned me different readings and independent research after work so that I could have better understand of the theories in terms of social practices. Furthermore, this externship expanded my horizon in the finance industry and helped me to build the relationship to the people who are working in stock exchange and investment banking.

Castro served as a mentor for Zuo during his internship, providing real-world experience in the world of finance

This externship is definitely unforgettable, not only for the knowledge I learned about the finance industry, but also because of the people I met during this winter break. John Castro is my boss who hosted me throughout my externship; he is a Wabash alumnus who graduated in class of 1997. He is my mentor more than my teacher in many ways, he is a real example of how a Wabash man think critically, act responsibly, lead effectively and live humanely. John is now considering hosting one Wabash every winter and if you are available and interested in Finance, then you can’t miss it. Eventually, I should say, so proud to be a Wabash man!

-Yiyuan Zuo Tiger ‘16

Having played catcher himself, Ruvoli created a tool that would benefit players like him

For me entrepreneurship is fascinating. Two years ago, my sophomore year, I was trying to find something to do during a boring Wednesday night over spring break. As I began to tinker with things, I picked up my catcher’s mitt and began to reminisce about my playing days. As I thought about my “glory days,” I thought about the countless hours I spent training and all the lessons I had taken. Why weren’t there ever any training tools for catchers? All the training tools in baseball consist of hitting, throwing, and fielding training. With this, I used my analytical skills that I’ve learned from my education at Wabash as a philosophy major, and I created my catcher’s training tool.

My training tool is called Perfect-A-Block, and its purpose is to promote the correct form of blocking a baseball or softball in the dirt. There are two problems when a catcher is learning to block. The first, a person’s natural reaction to an oncoming object is to flinch and turn away. By turning away, the catcher exposes his or her throat, which if hit with the ball can cause serious injury. The second problem is the exposure of the throwing hand while making a block. The throwing hand should be placed behind the catcher’s mitt to protect the throwing hand from any broken fingers. With my invention of Perfect-A-Block, I was able to create a training tool that enables catchers to work on the correct form of blocking by themselves. For a catcher, working on blocking usually requires a coach, parent, or teammate to throw them balls in the dirt, and then for that person to tell the catcher what they are doing right or wrong. Therefore, having the ability to work alone on having the correct blocking form is a huge step forward for the catching position.

Inventing Perfect-A-Block was a great moment for me, but of course, business and innovation costs money; and as a college student, money isn’t always at my disposal. Surely the costs add up with filing for a patent, filing my business as an LLC, and manufacturing costs. This is where Career Services and the S.E.E.D. Grant have come to help me tremendously. After struggling to find a manufacturer, I finally came across Infinity Products, Inc. located in Avon, IN. They have been great in helping me make my product into the real thing. To fund the manufacturing fees of the first part of my product, I applied for a S.E.E.D. Grant and was accepted. The S.E.E.D. Grant is for Wabash entrepreneurs looking for funding to help start their business. A student can receive up to $500 in funding. For me, this was definitely was a huge help. Because of the S.E.E.D. Grant, I was easily able to focus on the business side of things knowing I had the financial backing of the grant. As a result, the first part of my product has been produced, which is the mitt strap.

With the S.E.E.D. Grant, Ruvoli was able to make his idea a reality

 Funding can be a difficult thing for any entrepreneur, especially an entrepreneur in college. Having this opportunity at Wabash is great, and I encourage entrepreneurial students to take advantage of this. I would like to thank Wabash Career Services and the other members who have made the S.E.E.D. Grant possible. As I continue to work with Infinity Products, Inc., we are in the process of manufacturing the second and final part of the training tool, and, of course, I will apply for more of my S.E.E.D. Grant for help.

-Frank Ruvoli ‘13

            In the three days of my externship I visited construction sites, handled important paperwork, functioned as a secretary, and networked with various foremen and owners of construction companies.

            Apart of performing day-to-day construction tasks, Nusurge has to purchase a myriad of expensive equipment that’s needed at the construction sites; and with that comes the bills from the companies that supply the tools to Nusurge. So, as part of my first day of work, I sorted hundreds of copies of the invoices that Nusurge received from the businesses across Ohio. Organizing the invoices from the company will prove useful. I learned that the invoices are like receipts that can be referred to if Nusurge was ever to be audited by the government. I also organized and sorted complex manuals and schematics containing the instruction necessary for the operation of the electrical wiring in the buildings Nusurge worked on.

            Additionally, I was asked to receive incoming calls for Nusurge and take down any information that was to be relayed to the manager. I analyzed multiple recorded messages on the voicemail where I also relayed information of high importance to the manager.

            By partaking in this externship I realized that I like to be in control of the projects and be the coordinator people refer to when they need something. I would rather coordinate behind the scenes then do the manual labor or be on the “front lines” per say. This experience is motivation for me to start my own business and be my own boss. I do not feel I could function at an entry-level job for very long. Watching the manager delegate and handle the higher matters rather than the trivial ones intrigued me.  I do not necessarily want to work in the construction business, but I learned that whatever job I do I want to be in charge. The externship at Nusurge taught me what it takes to be the leader in charge of a competitive business.

-A.J. Clark

As a morning-time ritual, Mr. Hamilton and I reviewed two important sets of documents.  The first is a daily census of the hospital.  In my time at St. John’s, the hospital was experiencing numbers nearing capacity.  Upon my arrival, there were 22 patients in the emergency room who were going to be admitted to the hospital, but were waiting on a bed.  It’s great news for a hospital administrator when it comes to knowing “business is booming,” but by the same token, one cannot hope for high patient satisfaction ratings when waiting 12 hours or more for a room.  An important number that we looked at when it came to the operations of the emergency room is the LWBS, or left without being seen, number.  In the recent days of heavy patient volume, there were, at times, 10 to 15 patients who had checked-in to the emergency room, but had decided to leave before being seen by a physician.  By using linear regression through Excel, we were able to look at the number of ER visits and how that correlated to the number of LWBS patients.  With the equation you find from that linear regression, the question becomes: what number of ER staff will it take to minimize the LWBS number?

The second document set is a detailed safety report from the previous day.  Another great tool that St. John’s utilizes each morning is a “safety huddle,” where representatives from each department meet to discuss what occurred in the past 24 hours that was unsafe for patients.  This can range from falls to putting the wrong identification wristband to a delay in care.  It’s a great way for staff to constantly ask what can be done to better serve patients, and question what can be learned from situations where something does go wrong.

A side of the healthcare system that I didn’t know about prior to my visit was the role of a hospital president as a liaison between the hospital and physicians.  In the case of St. John’s, physicians at the hospital are not employed by the hospital, but instead choose to practice medicine there and choose to send their patients there.  Hospital administrators are forced to walk a tightrope and hold contract negotiations as though they were the GM of a professional sports franchise.  Essentially, the administrator must keep physicians happy in order to ensure that patients are happy and being treated with the utmost of care.

The experience reminded me, yet again, what great opportunities I’m afforded as a Wabash student.   I want to extend my thanks to Career Services, Mr. Hamilton for his kindness and time taken with me, and the entire staff of St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital for making me feel so welcome and providing such a great environment for me to learn and observe.

Patrick Bryant ’16

During my previous two years of enjoying the 4 week long break that the college is so kind to give its non-seniors, I decided to do what I could to ensure that I did nothing productive. I enjoyed my extra time as much as I could before I would get the expected slap in the face given by the ensuing semester. This time, however, I decided to do something that could actually helpful to my future and that was through the participation in an externship.

I spent two days in Newburgh, Indiana (just East of Evansville) shadowing financial advisor Greg Charnes ’00 of Ameriprise Financial. Although the stay was brief, the experience and knowledge that I gained were far more valuable and extensive than I could have hoped for. It gave me a much better idea of what goes on in the day-to-day necessary work, most of it in which clients do not see.

Charnes has quite a bit of clients between his Nashville and Newburgh office locations and frequently meets with his clients to discuss their finances and what to do with them. However, my visit happened to be on a two day period in which he did not have any scheduled meetings. To many people this may sound as if I would not be able to learn much, but he had quite a bit to accomplish despite the lack of meetings.

Much of Charnes’s work comes from the preparation of meetings through research and organizing. The stock value of numerous companies are extensively researched to give Charnes a good idea of where the company is, has been and could look to go in the future. He advises his clients on what stocks to buy and sell, so having quite a bit of knowledge on these companies is crucial. Organizing files for his clients also took up plenty of time. The updating of information was necessary to ensure that surprises are minimized when the meetings happen.

This type of work took up most of the time I was there and I could not be more thankful for what I learned. Not only did I learn a bit more about stocks and how to look at them, I also learned a bit more on how to deal with people. In an economy that has plenty of upward and downward swings, keeping clients at ease and encouraged can be a difficult task. So much of what goes into this job is being able to not only make the clients comfortable, but to build a relationship with them as well. Advisors want their clients to be able to trust them and to not think that they are just trying to make money off of them.

Charnes and his co-workers seem to have the attitude that they are not simply helping people make money; they legitimately enjoy their job and are looking out for others that need financial advice. I am incredibly thankful for the experience that I have and I recommend anyone who might be interested in that field to visit them.

As you may already know, I was recently selected as a recipient for the Wabash College SEED Grant. For those of you who are not familiar with the SEED Grant, it is a grant that is given for student entrepreneurial development. I was selected for the Grant in the spring of 2012.

Over the last several years, I have been attempting to get my lawn care business off the ground. I quickly found that the expenses of running my own business were far from inexpensive. With equipment costs, as well as maintenance costs, there was hardly any cash left over to cover the necessities, such as gas and insurance. As you can tell, I was more than thrilled to learn about the SEED Grant that Wabash College offered to the student body. I was approved for the SEED Grant with the understanding that my Grant would be used for purposes such as insurance, lawn maintenance computer software, and equipment costs. The SEED Grant not only gave me some breathing room in terms of cash flow, but it also allowed me to run my business much more efficiently with the purchase of a rather expensive, yet incredibly beneficial, software program–something I would have never been able to spend the money on otherwise.

This past summer turned out to be a major success (with the exception of the 3-week drought during the month of July), and the business is now stronger than ever thanks to the Wabash College SEED Grant. Attached are some pictures of the equipment and some of the work Sutherlin’s Mowing Service performed over the course of the summer!

I started working in the Public Relations department of Louis Vuitton China (Shanghai) in late May and my life has been nothing short of a whirlwind since.

This is exactly where I wanted to be from the beginning! The sales job at 5^th Avenue was wonderful, but I was ready to move in a new direction at the end of the 1-year tenure. So, when I saw this golden opportunity to transfer back to China, I snatched it up as quickly as possible. Now, that isn’t to say that I didn’t have to work for it. It took me four different interviews to get this new position. Thankfully, interviews are not that big of a deal after spending so much time in the Career Services office back at Wabash.

My new position as a PR Assistant is rigorous and challenging. Some of my major job functions have included celebrity relations, media relations, and event planning. Since I started in May, I have been dealing with more than thirty different fashion media representatives, and 1^st-tier celebrities on a daily basis. I do a lot of the personal styling for celebrities with Louis Vuitton products during red carpet debuts and other events. On the fashion magazine side, I have also been getting more and more familiar with the editors of GQ, Esquire, Vogue, Elle, and several other big names. I provide content for these media outlets and “feed” them with the newest trends from the brand and work to get us more coverage.

Tian holding the September issue of “Numero” magazine with 23 pages of editorials coverage on Louis Vuitton, tagged by the pink stick-it notes.