Name: Victor

Year: Junior

Major: Economics, Environmental Science

CFS Program: Field Studies in Environment, Science, and Sustainability

My Chicago Field Studies (CFS) experience has been a very impactful, rewarding journey. Often under-emphasized, being able to engage in an internship related to my academic studies has been enormously helpful in figuring out my future career goals. Now nearly almost done with this quarter, I have learned a lot in my class and workplace, which could not have happened without CFS. For me, waking up in the morning and arriving to the office in downtown Chicago before all of my housemates’ alarm going off has made me much more organized. The responsibilities I have at the company have also allowed me to grow familiar with the working lifestyle and create a professional network.

As a junior double majoring in economics and environmental science, the ‘what ifs’ of post-graduation life usually linger like a cloud over my head. What am I going to do after I graduate? Where do I want to live? What kind of work do I want to get involved with? But most importantly, what kind of job will provide me with the most satisfaction? These are all questions that I have taken more seriously since beginning my internship.

Although everybody has a different role in the company, our work is all interconnected by a reachable end goal. I’ve learned that numerous industries often collaborate in order to move forward with each business’ agendas. My work at Clean Line Energy is focused on developing high voltage direct current transmission lines. Our projects are very large in scale and have to meet many regulatory requirements. This means that there’s a lot of outreach to professors and student groups, facilitating discussion with public landowners, making calls to state representatives and local decision makers, and scheduling high-level meetings with private investors.

All these moments have made my internship very helpful, and I am able to understand what working in this industry would be like. Some other memorable times this quarter thus far have been when my manager and I hopped on a flight to conduct public outreach at the St. Louis Earth Day Festival. That day, I talked to over 500 people and also checked off seeing Saarinen’s Arch on my bucket list. A week later, I was joined by U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Durbin for a large environmental advocacy dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago.

All of these experiences have made me well rounded, and definitely gave me a taste of the real world. But I think the most important thing I have learned this quarter is responsibility. When taking classes on a regular quarter, I can allow myself to miss a class or two, but this would not be acceptable at work. There are hard deadlines for a lot of events and work-related projects that cannot be missed. With all this said, I encourage everyone to look into CFS because it is an amazing quarter that really ties the real world into your coursework, and I am willing to bet that it will probably be one of the best quarters of your time here at Northwestern.

Go cats!