Student Spotlights

I was a high school Accounting Intern at Clifton Larson Allen. I learned about this internship through researching summer activities to bolster my college resume. Once I applied, there were two rounds of interviews. The first round was a phone call with the regional campus recruiter. The second round was an interview with the in-office leader of the program. 

My day-to-day was full of meetings, shadowing, and meeting with different people in the office to learn about what they do for the company. We would first come in then prepare for our first meeting, a learning session with all the interns across the country to teach us an aspect of the business to complete our case study. Next, we would work on our case study, then all four of us would eat lunch together. The second half of the day was more flexible since we finished the national meetings. We would shadow on meetings, meet with different people in the office to talk about what they do, or a team building activity. My cohort often would pass time between activities practicing putting on one of our leader’s mats near his desk for fun. We also went on site to a non-profit in Seattle to shadow an audit and took a day to tour UW Bothell and talk with the accounting department. 

Kennedy Catholic helped prepare me for this with the class rigor offered, the accounting class, and through founding DECA. The class rigor helped me to build my CV and have a competitive resume to get to an interview. The accounting class at Kennedy Catholic gave me the basic knowledge of accounting and bookkeeping to be able to thrive at a public accounting firm. Lastly, founding the DECA Club helped me secure the internship through having it on my resume and being able to talk about leadership in a business setting. Founding the club gave me the skills to interview through presentations for the club and doing the application to create the club. 

My goals after Kennedy Catholic are to attend a target school for investment banking and secure a role in investment banking after university. This internship is helping me achieve this goal through creating valuable connections in the finance industry. The internship is great for my college resume since it shows real world experience, my interest in finance, and my capability to secure competitive opportunities. During my time there I met many people and was able to build connections in the field. We learned how to market ourselves and network with others effectively, and more importantly, how to use LinkedIn to our advantage. They encouraged us to connect with as many people as possible on LinkedIn. This helped us connect with people in the office, in other offices nationally, our seminar teachers, and other interns across the country. 

The Summer Business Institute that I participated in this past summer allowed me to take real college courses around many fields in business, create a network with driven peers and mentors, and experience and meet workers and CEO's like those from Boeing and many more businesses. I learned about the program through Mr. Franco, who used to oversee summer programs at Seattle University. The application was pretty straightforward with only a couple of supplemental essays.  

My day-to -day looked like waking up in a Seattle University dorm with one other roommate. We would eat breakfast on campus, then afterwards we would usually have a college class where we took introductory courses on a wide variety of business-related subjects. After our class I would go get lunch at the various restaurants around Seattle University’s campus with my friends. Afterwards, we would load onto a bus and go to companies where we got tours and connected with Seattle University alumni. In the evening, we head back and have do fun activities with the other participants on campus. 

Kennedy Catholic gave me the courage to step out of my comfort zone and do something different. The work ethic that we are taught at Kennedy Catholic prepared me to go above and beyond in not only my lectures but also with forming connections with my peers. By attending this Summer Business Institute, I now have a larger network. The connections that I made allowed me to see future career opportunities that I would be interested in. After graduating from Kennedy Catholic, I would like to attend a business school, get a degree in Finance, and chase the career path of either an investment banker or venture capitalist. 

I was fortunate to have a full-time paid internship at Altius Institute for Biomedical Sciences under Dr. Zrazhevisky, PhD. I assisted with laboratory research focused on human cell lines, working on projects involving flow cytometry, gene delivery through transfection, protein expression tracking, and microscopy imaging. I discovered Altius through Seattle Science Lab, a nonprofit I co-direct that connects students with hands-on STEM experiences, mentorship, and research opportunities in the Seattle area. Through our network, I was introduced to Dr. Zrazhevisky and reached out to express my interest. The process included sharing my academic and research background and showing my commitment to learning and contributing to ongoing projects.  

Each day, I worked directly in the lab alongside researchers. My responsibilities included preparing and transfecting cell cultures, running flow cytometry assays, capturing and analyzing microscopy images, and organizing and interpreting experimental data. I also participated in discussions about research design, troubleshooting experiments, and presenting findings to the team.  

Kennedy Catholic's STEM curriculum, such as honors and AP science courses, gave me a strong foundation in biology, data analysis, and lab techniques, which allowed me to step into the research environment. Equally important, Kennedy Catholic emphasizes curiosity and communication, skills that directly translated into asking strong questions and navigating challenges in research.  

My internship at Altius solidified my passion for scientific research and gave me confidence in my long-term goals. Working hands-on with therapeutic research in human cell lines allowed me to see how molecular-level research can translate into real medical impact, deepening my passion for both scientific innovation and patient care. After graduation, I plan to study molecular biology at a four-year university and continue into biomedical research where I hope to contribute to research and real-world medical impact.