By Griffin Moores

Addie stands in front of FirstBank

 

Addie Arnold dreams of someday owning her own business, a coffee shop, or maybe a cafe. When she came to CSU she wasn’t sure exactly what her passions were, but knew she’d find a place to develop them under the College of Business’s wide umbrella of programs.

“Business in general is such a broad major that it can be applied to anything you go into after graduating, and that was a big selling point for me,” Addie said.

This summer, heading into her senior year, she decided to pursue an internship in finance and tackle head on one of the more challenging subjects she studied.

After attending a meet and greet with FirstBank employees, organized by the college’s Career Management Center, she applied and was accepted into the bank’s summer program, along with three fellow business students.

Put up in a hotel near the company’s Lakewood headquarters on a “mini vacation,” Addie trained with other interns on simulated teller lines and learned how to complete transactions.

Soon, Addie was standing behind her own teller station greeting real customers as they came into the Fort Collins branch where she worked.

It was hard at first, but she soon got the hang of it.

“I learned a lot. You just have to be open to asking questions,” said Addie, who cycles through a variety of positions in the bank to experience how they each operate.

Addie helps paint over graffiti in Denver

Addie Arnold (left) and a fellow FirstBank intern paint over graffiti in the Globeville neighborhood of Denver during their community volunteer day.

“I'm getting more of a real life view of what finances look like.”

Outside the office, FirstBank’s team took volunteer trips to paint over graffiti and had the chance to watch a Rockies game from the company’s box seats.

“Having different internships and learning about different paths you can take is really beneficial,” Addie said, and she’s confident the insight and skills she’s developed will help if she decides to launch her own company in the future.

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