Name: Roger Wu
Year: Sophomore
Majors: Journalism, MMSS
Minor: Philosophy
CFS Program: Business Field Studies
Employer: Tom, Dick & Harry Creative Company
Before this summer started, I believed that Chicago Field Studies could be helpful for my personal and professional development only because my friends who had taken CFS quarters said so. Now I have been interning at Tom, Dick & Harry Creative Company for seven weeks, and I have realized through my own experience that CFS is a great choice.
During the past spring quarter after I was accepted by CFS, I was busy searching for internships and interviewing with companies. CFS provided a variety of choices for me, and I identified around ten companies that I was actually interested in. The interview process was long, but also memorable, because it was the first time in my life that I applied for a job. Even though CFS provided a great starting point, the interviews were not cheap or easy at all, as companies were seriously looking for talents. In the end, I did receive several offers, and I made my choice to join Tom, Dick & Harry Creative Company because I had a great conversation with my current supervisors, Caroline and Finke, during the interviews. I also wanted to work for an agency because I wanted to learn about client-facing and communications, and TDH is a great creative agency that specializes in these things.
The best part about TDH is definitely its people. All the people I have met at the company are very supportive and friendly, and I have developed friendships with some of them through casual conversations and fun activities. Interns are put into real projects at TDH, as I am currently working on a project with a trading company to raise its brand awareness. During these past seven weeks, I have learned about how to carry out efficient research, to report results in a professional way, to generate insights from research, and to communicate with clients. Some of the tasks can be time-consuming and challenging, but I have enjoyed most of the project work as I can feel that I am actually contributing to the team. TDH is like a big family, as people all know one another well and love to hang out when they are not working. Every Friday afternoon, we drink beers and talk about life. I am more than happy that I have chosen TDH as the first stop of my professional career, and I will recommend this unique, fun and energetic company to everyone who is thinking about getting an internship or a job.
As for my CFS class, I consider it as a helpful supplement to my internship, as it provides an opportunity for me to discuss my experiences with fellow classmates. Professor Nina Wieda is friendly, supportive and responsible, as she gives us meaningful topics to talk about every week. Sometimes I may feel too tired after working for the whole week to complete all the homework for this class, but many of the readings are actually fun and informative at the same time, and I have gradually developed a habit of relaxing myself through every week’s readings. Moreover, I actually have many good friends who are in the same class with me, and that makes this class even more fun and exciting. For example, the field trip to Sylver Consulting was amazing, because I not only visited a company that I was not very familiar with, but also got a great opportunity to hang out and chat with some of my best friends at Northwestern.
Therefore, if your friends are inviting you to join them for a CFS quarter, do so! You are going to have a lot of fun. After interning for seven weeks, I have started to understand why many people say that industrial experiences are not replicable in classrooms. I am a double major in Journalism and MMSS (Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences) and have taken some of the most difficult classes provided at Northwestern. Even though both of my majors are career-oriented and practical, I still find myself struggling a little bit when I first started working. For example, a complicated math concept might not be useful at all when I need to complete a budget analysis, and a writing technique that I learned from my Medill classes might not work for editing a copy for a piece of ad. I have now understood how the best way to become more proficient in an industry is have real experiences in it. What we have learned from school is definitely important but being able to translate what we have learned into good work is a more important skill, and I am glad that this CFS quarter has provided me precious industry experiences.
All in all, I truly believe that joining CFS and Tom, Dick & Harry Creative Company is a great decision. I have collected lots of useful experiences and have also enjoyed myself during the last seven weeks. Now I am looking forward to the final two weeks of my internship and also the unknown future I am going to explore.