Week 5: Looking back/overall insight

My experience at the University of Michigan actually prepared me for my internship in more ways than I anticipated. I think that the biggest way that my schooling prepared me was in the form of working with peers on group projects. All of my group work taught me that part of a successful product is the relationships between the group members. With that being said, when I walked into my office on my first day, I was introduced to a team that I would work with for the duration of my internship. Over the course of my internship, I would work with these people on assignments and need their help in order to complete my individual tasks. Furthermore, since my internship is within a sales function, relationships with accounts are critical for our team’s success. Between my relationships with my coworkers and my relationships with accounts, my group project experience at U of M proved more useful than I had every expected.

     While my education at the University of Michigan did help to prepare me in a number of important ways, there was one portion of my internship that my education did not prepare me for. I wish that I had taken a course at school that had taught me about Microsoft Excel. Although I am not sure how that course would have been taught exactly, I think that interns around the world would really benefit from a course in popular computer software programs like Excel. It would have been a very useful course. As our education adapts to the demands of the modern workplace, I believe that courses at universities will begin to change, as well. I believe that in the coming years, courses will begin to reflect the technological advances in the workplace. I hope that U of M begins to require Liberal Arts students to take a course that prepares them for the computer software needs.