Aditya Kataria 

Internship: Small Business Administration

Short bio: 

Hi, my name is Aditya Kataria! I'm from Fremont, California and I'm currently double majoring in CLEG and Data Science. I'm planning to intern at the Small Business Administration during the Spring semester, where I'll be working as a Communications Intern. Parts of my job will include writing press reports, creating social media posts, and helping the SBA press assistant. In my free time, I like to play video games, read books, and spend time with my friends. If you ever need a book or video game recommendation, I am the guy to talk to! 

I chose the DC Cornerstone program because I want to eventually get a job in the federal government. Being able to get an internship in my freshman year, before many of my peers, allows me to get unique learning opportunities I can use throughout my time at AU. Similarly, I became a Cornerstone Ambassador because I wanted to show future students what they should expect from Cornerstone and how a student like them can balance their personal, academic, and professional lives. Besides that, I greatly enjoy working with the Cornerstone staff, as well as the other ambassadors! 

I'm looking forward to the spring semester, where I'll get my first taste of professional life! 

April 15th, 2024

Hey y’all! I can’t believe that this is my last blog post and how fast the end of my freshman year is arriving. Every single week feels like it’s going by like a breeze, and I'm quite excited to head back home and meet my parents and friends in the Bay Area. To wrap up my blogs, I wanted to give y’all one last check-in for my internship and academics, as well as share my plans for this summer and next semester.  

Regarding my internship, everything is going fantastic. This week was very lowkey due to there being fewer events, but National Small Business Week, the busiest week of the year for the SBA, is right around the corner. The SBA administrator will be traveling all around the country for the week, one day in each area of the country, and spreading information about the help that the SBA can give to small businesses. Besides that, everyone is still super nice and I got some good feedback from the Associate Administrator and Deputy Associate Administrator of OCPL, as well as some career advice from them. Considering they’ve been in government service for many years and have a lot of work on their plates, it’s a blessing that they took time out of their day to talk to me and help me figure out my plans moving forward. The last day of my internship is May 8th, which is also the last day before I head back to the Bay Area. I’ll be happy to head back home, but very sad for leaving such a great experience and such great people. I’ve learned how to network, write information efficiently, manage my time and tasks, and overall just function in a professional atmosphere, which makes this internship a truly valuable experience. I definitely recommend this internship to any of y’all if you are looking for one next semester, as it’s a fantastic first internship workplace! 

 

My cubicle is pretty full of random stuff, but it still gives me privacy

 

Academics-wise, everything is starting to wind down a little bit which is nice, but finals are starting to creep into my mind. I recently had my CS midterm and finished my writing class’s research paper, which is a big relief. As the semester concludes, I have a few remaining tasks for my classes. For writing, I have to revise my research paper, wrap up my semester-long writing journal, and prepare for the two essays that will make up my final. For my Intro to CS class, I have a few more programming assignments and I have to study for my 2.5-hour final, which I am not looking forward to. For my Power, Privilege, and Inequality class, I just have to work on our final, a concept map, where we connect the different things we’ve learned throughout the semester to our own experiences and to different real-life examples we see. For my Cornerstone class, I have to do 2 hours of a LinkedIn learning course of my choice, do a presentation about my internship, and submit a final portfolio with my resume, cover letter, and a summative reflection of my internship experience. And lastly, for my AU Experience II class, I have absolutely nothing because I already finished all of my assignments during some of my free time! So, a decent amount of work is still left, but more than manageable. Remember, time management is important, and setting some standards for yourself to maintain your work-life balance can go a long way!!! 

To finish off my last blog I’ll detail what I’ll be doing over the summer and next semester. I’m very thankful I did an internship during this spring semester, as it’s easier to get ;) and I can focus on other stuff during this semester. I’ll be doing some summer classes at a community college to get through some simple major requirements. I cannot stress enough how valuable community colleges are, especially since AU accepts a decent number of transfer credits that are easier and are much cheaper. If you have the opportunity to do a simple class that is similar no matter where you do it, like the Intro to Public Speaking class that I’m doing, I would definitely recommend doing it over a summer. The added benefit to that is that you can start doing higher-level classes that AU is known for quicker, which makes the amount you pay to AU more impactful. I’m also going to continue Scouting at home by going to an outdoor leadership camp as an adult volunteer, which should be a fun and rejuvenating experience! Besides that, next semester I’ll be taking a lot more credits since I won’t have a 16-hour internship every week. I’ll also be a UC Program Leader most likely, so maybe I’ll see some of y’all in your complex problems class next semester! I’m looking forward to the break of summer and the new, more interesting classes of next semester, but I will still cherish the experience of my internship after I leave it.  

 

Thank you all so much for listening to my yapping over the past few months! I think posting blogs was as valuable for me as it may have been for some of you; just being able to reflect on my experiences has been very helpful for managing all my work. If you have any questions for me, feel free to contact me on Instagram (@kitkat.aria) or email me (ak5801a@american.edu). Have a great day and I hope my blogs helped you prepare for the Cornerstone experience!