Kate Harley - Trip to London with the International Finance Class

This past week has been pretty hectic so far!  In all, I have written an eight-page paper, done a lot of work for my risk management class, and am starting to prepare for finals week.  Tonight I am starting my final paper for my international finance class.  I am not too worried about that paper because it’s all about the trip to London I went on with my class over Thanksgiving Break. 

We visited Lloyd’s of London, the London Metal Exchange, Barclay’s, Sotheby’s, and so many more destinations! It was such an eye-opening experience and it really showed me all the different things I could do with my major after I graduate.  So you might be wondering how I got to go on this trip, or how a college student could afford a trip to London. 

This was the first year that the International Finance Class was lucky enough to have a trip like this.  Dr. Abdou set up so many wonderful visits for us to go on.  I cannot thank him enough for the amazing experience that this trip has given me, along with some new friends as well!  And how did I pay for this trip?  I was lucky enough to receive $1,200 in scholarships for a trip that only cost $1,500! 

Dr. Esqueda, Sr. Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, and his wife also joined us on the trip.  Dr. Esqueda studied in London, so it was great to have someone around that knew the area.  

Our flight was a little rough getting there, after it had been delayed and cancelled a couple times, but we finally got there, even though we were a day late.  During our free time in London we got to see Big Ben, the London Eye, the London Bridge, and so many other places.  I am a huge Harry Potter fan myself, so I made sure that I saved time to see a couple Harry Potter sites.  I got to see the theatre where all the movies premiered, a few areas from scenes in the movie, and my favorite platform 9 ¾! 

Overall it was an amazing trip and I thank Penn State for giving me this opportunity! 

Meet Kate Harley

My name is Kate Harley.  I am a junior at Penn State Berks majoring in Business with a focus in Finance. I am highly involved on campus, holding the position of Merchandise Chair for Berks THON, part of the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, the world's largest student-run philanthropy dedicated to supporting children with pediatric cancer and their families. I am also the Social Director for the Lion Ambassadors, a peer mentor, and an orientation leader. I played softball for Berks for two years, and I was also the Ice Hockey Manager.

James McCarty - Internships

Being an Applied Psychology major I feel will give me a huge benefit in finding a job for the future because of all of the internship experience I have/will gain throughout my college education. This past week really opened my eyes as to how beneficial it is to have good work experience, leadership characteristics, and most importantly the Penn State name backing me.

I have been in the process of looking for my last internship, and was interested in a local organization that specializes in working with geriatrics. I kept trying to get in contact with the head of the organization, and was not having any luck. Finally, after a few days I spoke with someone but it was not the director whom I was intending to speak to. This person told me that this site was not the best fit for what I was looking for, and that I should try somewhere else. Confused and peeved with what had happened I call the organization one more time. Luckily, I spoke with a lady and she told me to e-mail the director of operations, but she warned me that the likelihood of me obtaining a position was slim to none.

I sent out the e-mail, and to my surprise heard back very quickly and we set up an interview for the following day. I went into the interview and all seemed to go very well. At the conclusion, to my surprise, the Director of Operations said that he has never in his career taken any intern because he felt that they were all unqualified and weren’t there for the right reasons. However, he said that the only reason he considered me for an interview was because in the signature of my email he saw that I was a Penn State student. Then once we met, he was sold because of the leadership and experience I obtained throughout my education thus far. It was amazing to know that the sole reason for getting this internship for next semester was because of my experience I gained from Penn State, but also having that name to back me.