Michael Mackessy '15, Diamond Hill Capital Management

Mike pictured with Otterbein alumna,
Tammi Gourley, Director - Employee Relations.

Michael Mackessy

Class Year: 2015

Major: Accounting

Hometown: Columbus, Ohio

Internship: Diamond Hill Capital Management

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Internship Responsibilities: My summer internship with Diamond Hill Capital Management was one of the most gratifying experiences of my life thus far. Over the course of my experience, I became familiar with all of the different occupational facets of a capital management company from the sales team to the portfolio managers and everything in between.  I worked closely with the accounting team during my time at Diamond Hill and assisted them in performing a few day to day tasks as well as a few projects of my own. 

While at Diamond Hill, I assisted in performing a fixed asset inventory review of all furniture and equipment at the Company’s two locations.  I documented all business processes that are performed by the accounting team on a daily, monthly, or quarterly basis.  I compiled data to assist with preliminary analysis of potential out of state tax exposure resulting from employees traveling out of state frequently.  I also participated in a social media analysis with the entire intern class which we presented to (20-25) employees including the entire Senior Management Team.

What I Learned: My internship at Diamond Hill was an exceptional experience. It not only gave me a sense of transparency into the mutual fund business and the financial services industry, but it also gave me a better perception of the appropriate career path for me to take after I graduate from Otterbein University. I gained a great deal of insight into the field of accounting as well as the asset management industry.

Cordray in Colorado, Part Five: Networking

Well its hard to believe, but my internship is more than halfway over! The time has flown by and I can't imagine that in six weeks, I'll be graduating from college! Although I am incredibly anxious about life after graduation, one thing I am grateful for is the amount of people I have networked with throughout my college experience - especially during this internship!

As everyone knows, getting a job often isn't just about what you know, it's also about who you know. Interning for a business or organization is an incredible way to expand your personal network and make connections that will hopefully be useful as you embark on a career path of your own. Throughout my internship, I have made a conscious effort to reach out to my supervisors and co-workers in order to broaden my network and create personal connections that will hopefully last a lifetime.

When I think of networking, I get a little intimidated at the idea. The word evokes a feeling of professionalism and makes me think of an interview involving intellectual questions and a business-like demeanor - but that's not always what it is. Networking can be as simple as a casual lunch with a colleague or supervisor where you learn about their professional background and they learn about your future goals and aspirations. Throughout my experience at the Fine Arts Center, I have had many moments where I went to lunch with a supervisor or even fellow intern and things turned into a networking opportunity. For instance, I told our Creative Director during lunch that I used to work at a summer camp and would love to find something in Colorado that was similar. Knowing that I'm a music major, she immediately said "Well, I actually know someone at the Conservatory who I could hook you up with to discuss their summer music programs if you're interested!" Who would have guessed that our graphic designer would have connections at the music conservatory and then offer to set up a lunch to introduce me?

Networking can also be as simple as becoming connected on LinkedIn or other social media websites! This past Friday, I noticed that I hadn't connected with any of my colleagues from the Fine Arts Center on LinkedIn and we had a fun time looking at each others profiles and laughing at each others pictures (they claimed that I look like a baby in my picture, which is fair since it was taken two years ago and displays my pre-bearded baby face... I'll have to change that before I start job hunting!)

Anyways, networking is hugely important, especially for us college folk who need all the help we can get to find jobs after graduation! Always be thinking of how important connections are whether you're in a class at Otterbein or an internship in Colorado, because the world is a small place and having good connections is essential!

Well, that's my spill on networking! Thanks so much for reading, and because I don't like a post without pictures, here is a picture of the view from the park today! Pretty great!

Until next time!

Dillon Cordray
Music and Business '15

Jonathan Hill '15 - Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

Class Year: 2015

Major: Public Relations and Music & Business

Hometown: Wadsworth, Ohio

Internship organization: Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Corporate Headquarters - 

Reagan National Airport (DCA)

Location: Washington, D.C. 

Internship Responsibilities: My duties consisted of writing internal communications content for 1,500 employees, facilitating media relations calls and overall media outreach, assisting with airline events such as the inaugural Air China and Frontier Airlines launches at Dulles International Airport, creating media advisories and press releases, photographing all airport events both internal and external, creating and posting social media content, creating a publicity plan for MWAA's Summer Jazz Series, presenting a summer-wide research project on social media dashboards and creating video content published on public and internal airport monitors.

What I Learned: The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority gave this aviation nerd the most professional and exhilarating experience of a lifetime. From experiencing runway checks and air traffic tours, to taking media calls with The Washington Post and NBC; I was completely engulfed in every communications function this quasi-government/corporate organization has to offer. This organization oversees over 1,500 employees, two airports that each occupies over 20 million passengers a year, the 14 mile Dulles Toll Road and Washington, D.C.'s Silver Line Metro project. I was placed in the main Communications Office that manages every aspect of the organization as previously stated. The overarching theme of this summer in regards to what I've learned is simply finding my passion to pursue aviation based communications opportunities post-graduation.

Cordray in Colorado, Part 4: Making Friends in a New City

Well I have completed five weeks out of my 15 week internship and can't believe that I'm already one-third of the way done! I'm getting very settled into my work environment and the internship is coming along really well! Since I've already talked about the actual internship in depth, I thought that for my next blog post I'd talk a bit about how I'm spending my time outside of my internship.

Garden of the Gods

In case you didn't know, I came out to Colorado Springs knowing only my 60 year-old aunt who I live with. She's awesome, but I have no one my own age to do things with. So, for the first few weeks I was kind of a loner. I would get home from work and go for a walk around the neighborhood. I found an awesome park right down the street and went to Garden of the Gods, a beautiful park that's really close and just had fun exploring by myself. But after a month I was dying to have some fun experiences with fellow human beings! So I decided to turn to the people I work with.

Now my co-workers are mostly 35-45 year olds with children who have no intention of hanging out with a 21-year-old intern on their nights and weekends. But two weekends ago, I was asked if I would walk in a parade to promote the Fine Arts Center's new musical, Reefer Madness. Of course, I said yes and on Valentines Day, I joined a few of my co-workers and walked in the parade. It was a Mardi Gras themed parade, so we all dressed in green for the show and threw beads at people and handed out fliers and it was a blast! I mean how many people get to do stuff like that on their internship?! 

My co-worker, Kim, and I at the parade

After the parade, my boss had said that we were all invited to a party back at his house (a beautiful house up in the mountains) but everyone who I worked with started to leave! They were saying things like " I have to get back to the kids" and "my husband is waiting for me" blah blah blah. So I started to think, "Well I'm not going to go to a party where I don't know anyone!" But then I thought "What else do I have to do today? I might as well stay out and have some fun!" So I ended up going to his house for the party and I'm so glad I did! I chatted with the CEO of the Fine Arts Center, who I rarely see in the office, but had a great conversation with. I met the mayor of Manitou Springs (the city where my boss lives) and I sang with some local musicians who were sitting around in the living room having a jam session! It was so much fun, and I was so incredibly happy that I had stayed, even though I knew probably three people to begin with!

Similarly, this past Friday, I decided to go out with a few co-workers to see my boss in a play that he was starring in. I got there super early and looked like a weirdo with no friends, but again I'm so glad I went because we had a great time! 

So the morale of the story is that although coming home from work every night, eating dinner and watching Netflix alone before bed sounds wonderful and easy, it's not really making the most of my time here. Going out and actually experiencing things with people is a much better way to spend my time! Even though it's not easy to find people to do things with, take a chance and really put yourself out there and get to know the people that you can, because that's what being in a new place is all about! You won't meet anyone new sitting at home alone watching Netflix!

And with that said, I'm going to watch an episode on Netflix before bed! Thanks so much for reading! Also, I said in my last post that the weather here was awesome, but I seemed to have jinxed myself because this weekend it snowed about a foot and is now in the negative temperatures - not fun! I feel like I'm back in Ohio! 

Until next time!

Dillon Cordray

Music and Business '15