Media + Press //Articles Q+A With 2024 Summer Interns Lauren SikkemaMarketing Specialist We are fortunate to have had 18 interns join us this summer. Some were returning for their second or third year, while many were new to the program. These internships not only allow individuals to gain practical experience, but they also provide our firm with crucial support for our ongoing projects. We truly could not accomplish what we do without them. Many of our interns decide to stay on as full-time staff upon completing their degrees, and we are immensely grateful they chose TowerPinkster this past summer. We asked some of the interns about why they chose us and their experiences. Here are some of their answers. What made you choose TowerPinkster for your internship? I chose TowerPinkster because of the resources and size of the firm. I knew TowerPinkster would be more capable of supporting my learning than other smaller firms. Alex Morrison, Mechanical Engineering Intern I chose TowerPinkster because I am from the area, and have heard of or seen the great projects/buildings that they work on locally. When I got the opportunity, I knew I had to take it to see the behind-the-scenes of that process. Cooper Smalldon, Electrical Engineering Intern Tower Pinkster took me on as a high schooler and has done nothing but continue to pour into me. I have not stopped learning and growing as a designer since I walked through the doors. Payton Schramski, Interior Design Intern I chose TowerPinkster for my internship because it stood out to me during my school’s career fair. I was looking for a full-service firm because I’ve seen how it creates great teamwork and efficiency. It looked like a great opportunity and experience. Leah Huizenga, Mechanical Engineering Intern I was interested in TowerPinkster’s promoted values, especially diversity and company culture. It was also the closest “big” multidisciplinary/landscape architecture company near me. Grace Densham, Landscape Architecture Intern Coming into this summer I knew that the office culture was really great. It was honestly one of the main draws for my choice, but I also knew that I would be learning a lot about things I wasn’t taught or wasn’t going to be taught at school. Hayley Rossio, Information Systems Intern When I was looking for an Architecture Firm to intern at, I came across TowerPinkster. I looked at their website and was immediately drawn to their work. I wanted to reach out but didn’t. I applied for the Higher Promise through the Kalamazoo Promise and they told me that I was matched with TowerPinkster. I was so excited. The firm that I’ve been stalking for a few months was the one that I got to intern at over the summer. Trevor Watts, Architectural Intern What did you enjoy about your internship? My favorite part about this internship has been working with the team! Coworkers can make your time at work fun and enjoyable, or cause you to dread going to work. I am happy to say that everyone at TowerPinkster is in the former category! I love coming to work and talking with my team about projects, school, or just about life in general. Special shoutout to the mechanical team though, they’re something special. Alex Morrison, Mechanical Engineering Intern The thing I have enjoyed the most about the internship is getting a chance to meet new, knowledgeable people that can help me learn about the industry. Cooper Smalldon, Electrical Engineering Intern This summer I have enjoyed getting to travel between the GR and KZOO offices to learn from both Interiors teams and get to work on more projects. Payton Schramski, Interior Design Intern I enjoyed the different aspects of the projects I was working on. I loved learning about different load calculations like snow, seismic, and wind loads. I also loved all the great community here, with all staff meetings once every two weeks, happy hours, team meetings, and work events. I have met a lot of kind and intelligent people, who have inspired me. Leah Huizenga, Mechanical Engineering Intern The Landscape Architecture team is fantastic. I’ve learned something new from each team member, from Adobe shortcuts to community-focused design. I also enjoyed the variety of projects I’ve been able to assist with. Project highlights included a dog park, a k-12 bus dropoff, and a native-plant playground. Grace Densham, Landscape Architecture Intern My internship has been amazing, even with the Crowdstrike outage. Being able to work one-on-one with people that I probably wouldn’t interact with on a daily basis has also been amazing. I’ve gotten to experience many different things working with the IT department and in turn have gotten to help out a majority of people in the Kalamazoo office and all of the other offices as well. Hayley Rossio, Information Systems Intern I enjoyed working with everyone. They’ve been so helpful with guiding me and helping me understand how things really worked. I loved that I got to go on site visits. It gave me a better understanding of what happens before the building is designed, demoed and then built. Trevor Watts, Architectural Intern What is the best thing you learned from your internship? I have learned so much it is hard to say what the best thing was. The most valuable thing I learned was probably how to work in a team effectively, and the communication that is necessary for a project to run smoothly. Alex Morrison, Mechanical Engineering Intern During my time here so far, the best things I have learned are the skills that a classroom cannot teach you, like connecting with colleagues and learning how to work with them efficiently on real-world projects. Cooper Smalldon, Electrical Engineering Intern My favorite thing that I learned was some of those niche and technical Revit skills that are so often used in the field, but just aren’t taught in school – Enlarged plans, hatches and patterns that show material intern, etc. Payton Schramski, Interior Design Intern The best thing I learned during my internship was understanding projects from start to finish. The structural team showed me different parts of the projects, which has allowed me to get a better idea of the industry. Previous internships only gave me pieces of the process. It was nice to have people investing time into my learning. Leah Huizenga, Mechanical Engineering Intern The design process is not linear! Grace Densham, Landscape Architecture Intern The best thing I’ve learnt so far has to be how to build laptops and provide support in several different ways. Building the laptops was a slight learning curve as I didn’t realize just how much was going into these computers. Learning through Dan, and the rest of the IT guys has been so amazing as I’ve gotten to see how several different people handle situations and how they solve those situations as well. I knew coming into this summer that I would be learning a lot of different things that I didn’t know before, but I wasn’t prepared for how welcoming and kind everyone has been, especially with how many questions I ask, because believe me I ask a lot sometimes. Hayley Rossio, Information Systems Intern I love that I got to learn a lot about real work and how things operated before I went into my studies. I got to learn a lot about Revit and how to use it. Not many incoming freshmen get this opportunity so I am extremely grateful. Trevor Watts, Architectural Intern Previous Post Next Post
