Reiman Spring 2001 Interns

Internship Program Provides Experience-Based Learning

"My experience as a Reiman Scholar gave me the experience I needed to understand what I would be facing when I started my own company," said Sriraman Prabu, a fall 2000 Reiman Scholar. The other Reiman Scholars agreed with Prabu that the Reiman Scholars in Entrepreneurship program is one that offers quality experience-based learning.

Paul Gratton, spring 2001 Reiman Scholar said, "I am constantly amazed at how quickly and easily something can be learned that seemed impossible to understand in a classroom."

The Fall 2000 Reiman Scholars were Anuj Gupta, MBA Program; Darron Kitterman, senior in management; Woon Lee, senior in computer engineering; Kevin Mitchell, senior in management; Sriraman Prabu, senior in computer engineering; and Jim Zehr, senior in management, finance, and international business.

The Spring 2001 interns were Brian Muff, MBA Program; Yong-Joon Park, junior in computer engineering; Jamie Rador, graduate student in education, leadership & policies; Paul Gratton, senior in MIS; Erik Allen, senior in chemical engineering; James Zehr, senior in management: finance, and international business.

The students were exposed to many different aspects of business during their semester long internship with start-up companies. Lee said "I learned a lot of important lessons in starting a company, running an organization, getting funding, undergoing financial crisis, and competing in a competitive marketplace."

While at Global Reach Internet Productions, Zehr was able to meet with acquisition candidates, evaluate opportunities, collect debt, represent the company at a trade show, and work to build the persona of a successful business.

The interns explained that the internship hosts taught them a lot about business and made sure that their internship was an educational one. "Every experience at Globefield Academy was very educational. Mike didn’t just want me to show up and work; more importantly, he wanted me to learn," said Darron Kitterman in reference to his internship host, Mike Coon, founder of Globefield Academy.

Prabu echoed Kitterman’s comments by stating, "Greg and Joel (President and Vice President of Acumen Instruments) were very good mentors. It was a great learning environment for me."

And the interns seem to have learned a great deal about entrepreneurship through their internship. Prabu said, "My experience as a Reiman Scholar was the best thing that has happened to me during my three years of college."

Gratton said, "The most encouraging element of my experience as an intern over spring 2001 has been the chance to put my classroom learning into action in industry. More than the technical information that I have learned, the philosophy of working at a start up will travel with me for the rest of my career."

Funding for the Reiman Scholars in Entrepreneurship was made possible through a gift from Roy Reiman, ISU alum, and his wife, Bobbi as well as a grant from the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneur Leadership, Inc. in Kansas City. This year-round program is designed to provide 12-15 entrepreneurially minded students with a unique internship opportunity. This is the fifth year the Pappajohn Center has offered this program.