My Eight Weeks at Schneider Downs

It was June 29, 2020, the first day of my internship with Schneider Downs.  The interns had training to start the day at 9:00 that morning, but at 5:30 a.m., I was awake.  Nervous, anxious, scared for what the future holds.  I couldn’t sleep.  I psyched myself out so much to believe this experience was going to be terrible and I would fail miserably.  Well, eight weeks later, I can tell you it wasn’t anything like I thought it would be.  Over my eight weeks at Schneider Downs, I’ve changed drastically to better my professional career.  I went from choking on my words when I had to introduce myself in front of all the interns on a Teams call, on the first day,  to being able to conduct a portion of a planning meeting for an engagement and comfortably being able to speak in front of all the interns.  My comfort level on the job now compared to eight weeks ago is invaluable to me and the betterment of my career.

              Even without the experience I gained in the audit field, I would be extremely happy with everything else I learned over my time here.  But with an audit internship, the largest portion of the experience gained is auditing.  I can say confidently that I’ve learned more than I could have imagined from working on six engagements.  It all started on my first engagement during my second and third weeks on the job.  I was on a year-end audit.  At this point in my life, the only “audit” experience I’d had in my life was an audit college class I took over a year ago.  In the beginning, I was assigned to complete four folders within the binder.  In first week, the learning curve was comparable to learning how to do everything in a new job in one day.  But through persistence and help from others, I was able to competently complete all four binders in my first week.  This allowed me to get feedback while still working on the engagement and start working on other things I normally wouldn’t see.  Throughout my internship, I was able to work through my assigned work efficiently to receive new responsibilities and broaden my understanding of an audit.

              Looking back at June 29 at 5:30 a.m. with me lying in my bed, tossing and turning trying to get a couple more hours of sleep, I find it funny how I was scared about failing and having a terrible experience.  It’s so funny to me because I felt everyone wanted me to fail, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.  With all the people I’ve worked with and met, each and every one of them has helped me succeed and wanted me to succeed.  Nobody is here to tear other people down and hoping they fail.  So, during the eight weeks I’ve worked at Schneider Downs, I’ve gained so much not just as an audit professional, but also as an individual.