This summer I interned with the Nasdaq Futures Exchange in Chicago, Illinois. My theme is Technology and Society and my Global Challenge is: how can organizations harness technology and data.

The past few years the growth of technology in our world has been apparent and fast moving. Almost everything can be connected with technology.  To remain competitive in the marketplace, and keep up with competitors, organizations must figure out a way to harness the power of technology. Interning at Nasdaq this summer helped me learn a lot more about my global challenge because Nasdaq is a company that has already begun to harness the power of technology. Nasdaq has created technology that powers the world’s market operators, clearinghouses and regulators, the building blocks of the global financial marketplace. In all of my experiences this summer, I learned about the diverse factors that come into play when harnessing technology.

For my specific job, using technology to automate daily reports was tremendously beneficial for running an efficient exchange. I took on this project and went above and beyond what was asked of me to create a keyboard shortcut to cut down on time and to automate my daily report. By far my most memorable experience was being successful with this automation project and being able to leave a lasting impression with Nasdaq. I took this experience to learn as much as I could about the futures industry and all that I could about using technology as a tool so I could play a beneficial role in our product development team.

Working in a corporate office is a much different environment than any I have experienced before. This experience made me more independent and confident as a person, as I was thrown into challenging situations and made to problem solve and think on my feet. I feel as though my leadership skills have grown because of this experience, because I had to be accountable for my own work and manage my responsibilities while working cohesively in my team. I am pleased I was able to learn about the corporate environment while gathering useful information to take back to my GLI team in the fall!

Having this experience not only prepared me for a job after college but it also gave me great insight on a global company’s daily operations and how they use and continue to unite technology and data. I am so grateful for this experience as I was offered a full time position post-graduation! I am appreciative to everyone that made my summer internship possible and for those I met throughout my involvement with Nasdaq. My GLI out of classroom experience truly was life changing and has launched my future career!