While many students spend their summers relaxing on the beach or spending their days soaking up the sun, senior James Pope took the initiative to start early on his internships. Career Technical and Agricultural Education teachers, Lorraine Bowen, along with Shirley Guiteau, offered up a fantastic opportunity to work for a Bank America branch as an intern and Pope could not pass it up. This once-in-a-lifetime chance may not present itself again, so he took advantage of it!
This unique experience allowed Pope to work inside a real Bank of America doing various, helpful assignments. From training to interacting with customers and actively engaging and routing new customers in, he learned a lot about how the workplace is run. In doing so, he was able to keep clients happy and satisfied in an efficient and orderly manner. This invaluable experience set him up to be more successful in other work environments and helped prepare him for his future. “This golden opportunity was really a resume-builder that allows me to achieve my ambitions!” Pope said.
For around two months, his career skills were built up and there were many learning moments that shaped this internship. The constant support from the team members carried Pope through and allowed him to showcase his best work. They were all deeply invested in his efforts and were always willing to aid assistance when needed. “The work experience I got from a bank as well known as Bank of America was insurmountable,” said Pope.
While his future is unknown, Pope says he is definitely considering going into banking and has also shown an interest in engineering. North Atlanta students are definitely inspired by his ongoing work ethic and motivation to complete this internship over the summer. The summer presents an abundance of distractions, but being able to stay persistent with his goals is a game changer. Being an intern shows responsibility and initiative to take on challenges which really reveals how willing a student is to achieve their dreams. Be like Pope and embark on your own journey!
