The document provides an overview of the author's background, goals for their internship, expectations going into the internship, experiences during the internship, and lessons learned. The author graduated with a degree in Supply Chain Management and is interning as a Project Coordinator. Their goals were to gain experience in project management and complete an internship with a large company. During their internship, they have taken on increasing responsibility for projects and learned about both the art and science of project management.

1. Myself
I am fromDallas,Texas,andhave livedthere mywhole life.Istartedmyacademiccareerfive yearsago
witha major inProfessional Aviation.Aftersome hardthinkingIchose totake a differentpath.With
that, I have recentlygraduatedfromThe Universityof TexasatDallaswithamajor inSupply Chain
Management.Ichose SCM because ithada small concentrationinProjectManagement,whichwasmy
third,and more importantly,myfinal major.So,currently,Iama ProjectCoordinatorInternwiththe
EPMO workingoutof the Richardsonoffice,andam on track to meetingmyshort-termgoalsforProject
Management.
GOALS: First,mygoal wasto get a betterunderstandingforProjectManagementinschool tosee if
that’ssomethingIwouldlike. Second,wastogeta ProjectManagementinternshipwithalarge
companyto gaina "real world"feel forProjectManagement.Sonow thatI have achievedmyfirsttwo
goalsand have a good feel my nextstepsare toworkmy way throughthe differentrollsof Project
Management.
Expectations
So,this isn’texactlywhat Iwasexpectingasan intern,butIthoughtI wouldlightenthe moodalittle.To
be honestwithyou,I didn’tquite knowwhattoexpect.I’ve heardmanystoriesfrommanyinterns
where theyjustrunerrandsor are assignedrepetitivetasksthatare cumbersome forotherstodo. That
isone reasonwhy I chose ProjectManagement.Eventhoughyouhave tofollow similarprocessesto
complete aproject,whatisentailedineachprojectandhow yougo about completingeachphase is
completelyunique.Ididnotexpecttobe involvedata lower-levelIguessyouwouldcall it,manipulating
the course of a project.Rather,I expectedtobe assignedtwoorthree keytaskswithinacertainphase
and masterwhatrole those tasksplayedinthe largerproject.Secondly,I expectedtogainbasicProject
Managementterminology.Thirdly,Iexpectedtohave the opportunitytonetworkwithotherProject
Managementprofessionalsgivingme evenmore insightinthe ProjectManagementindustry.
Experience
I have experiencedsomuch since Istartedthisinternshipso;Iwill tryandkeepthiscondensed.I’ll skip
completelyoverthe firstcouple weeksof training,andjumprightintowhatIhave beendoing.WhenI
was assignedwithDennisRender,he wasrightinthe middle of the PlanningPhase inthe Pre-Existing
ConditionsProject,apart of PatientProtections.ThiswaswhenIwasfirstintroducedtoSDM. Beingin
the RequirementsSignoff phase,he firstgave me the taskof recordingresponsesfromourstakeholders.
Nothingtoospecial aboutthis,butwhatI didwas receive “Engaged/NotEngaged”emailsandattached
themintoour TeamRoom. I alsowentbackinto ourPST to check thatwe hadreceivedall the required
responsesfromthe appropriate stakeholders.Shortlyafter,Iasked fora little more responsibility.
Trackingresources’postedhoursona weeklybasiswasthe nextthinghe addedtomylist.Once a week
I loggedintoClarity,foundthe postedhoursbyresource,andexportedthemintoanExcel Spreadsheet
that helpedtrackvariance.Italsogave a quickvisual onwhowastracking how muchduringany given
time.Simple enoughso,Iaskedagainformore responsibility.StatusReportsinClaritywasupnext.By
the endof the each week,Iwasresponsible forretrievingourproject’sstatusreportsandcapturing

2. theminClarity.Again,prettysimple. AtthispointIhad reachedmy“three tasksexpectation”.Well,I
wantedmore.Iwentback to himand askedformore responsibility.Iknew Ionlyhada limitedtime
here so,I wantedto take full advantage of anythingIcouldgetmy handson.This time aroundhe
informedme thatwe are fixingtotake ona new projectinthe comingweeks.He askedme how I
wantedtoapproach thisproject,withmore of the PC type responsibilitiesormore of the PMtype
responsibilities.Needlesstosay,Itook the redpill.So,he made it clearto me that fromthat point
forwardhe wouldtake back control of the three tasksassignedbefore forPre-Ex,andstartgivingme
more control overour newproject,Non-DiscriminatoryWellness.Thoughmyprimaryfocuswasnow
Wellness,Istill wasinvolvedonPre-ExistingConditionsall the wayintoExecutionPhase.Moving
forwardwithWellness,myfirsttaskwasto create a “Kick-Off”deck.Ireceivedseveral documents,
includingthe Business&RegulatoryRequirements(BRR) fromLRIOandthe Legal RegulatoryAnalysis
(LRA) fromthe Legal Division.Afterreadingthroughthemafew times,Iwasable to outline the
requirementsforourprojectandinclude themin the “Kick-Off”deck.Next,Itookonthe creationof the
ProjectScope andProjectCharterdocument.(Iknow thisisnot the usual orderof things,butthisisjust
howthisprojectgot started.You can ask me aboutit laterif you reallywanttoknow.) Withthe current
documentsIhad fromLRIO, the Legal Division,andotherimportantrelatedinformationIwasable to
write an Executive Summary,assignRolesandResponsibilities,establishMilestones,giveAssumptions,
spell outRisksandIssues,talkaboutConstraints,anddefineIn-Scope/Out-of-Scopeitemstyingthem
back to appropriate areas.Furthermore,InClarity/OBWIcreatedthe ProjectPlanbyaddingtasks,
resources,milestones,creatingatimeline,andrestructuringthe plantobetteralignwith SDM.Last, but
not least,Icreateda TeamRoomfromscratch forWellness.Thisprovedtobe quite achallenge,buthas
allowedme tohelpotherswhentheyhave questionsregardingTeamRoom.
I have alsotakenpart in a, I guessyoucan call it a “volunteer”projectwiththe Culture ActionClub.In
thisprojectare objective istoclarifydecision-makingauthoritywithinthe EPMO.I wasable to
collaborativelycreate aProjectCharterwithScope Items.Ialsohave an individual responsibilitywhichis
to update the CommunicationsPlanwhennecessary.
LearnedLessons
Throughoutmytime here,IlearnedtwoimportantdistinctionsaboutProjectManagement.There isan
“Art of ProjectManagement”andthere isa “Science of ProjectManagement”.
The firstthingI was toldwhenI startedworkinghere wastohave fun.The Artis abouthavingfun,and
beingable tomake your workenvironmentfunforyouandyour customers.More importantly,
communicationisakeypiece inthe art of PM. Beingable tocommunicate ina personable,appropriate
mannerdissolvesmanyof the intuitivewallspeople begintobuildwhentryingtocomplete ataskwithin
groups.Additionally,communicatingwell helpsbuildstrong,collaborative teams.
The Science,tome,is the easierpart.The processes(PMLC& SDM), PM terminology,the use of
differenttypesof software,etc.are thingsthatcan be easilylearned.Once youhave learned
appropriate practices,youjustplugandchug.

3. Tyingit back to myself
So,to complete the flowyousawearlieronthe Agenda,thisexperience hasexceededmyexpectations
by a stretch.DennisRenderasmyprojectManager and Larry Gaver and Winnie Uche asmy PC Buddies
have made my learningexperience verycomfortableandfun.Ihave beenable tostepoutside whatI
originallyexpectedgoingin,andtrynew thingswithoutbeingafraidof doingitwrong.Iam now a more
experiencedprofessional inthe ProjectManagementindustry,andbelieve Iamon myway to
completingmythirdgoal.Ithinkat thispointwithwhatI have gainedhere,Ican continue thatflowand
start settingexpectationsformynextexperiencesdownthe road.
Thank you
I justwantedto thankGary Bell andKennethWhitenhall forgivingme the opportunitytocome intothis
role withlittle experience. Theyhave beenveryhelpfulinthe developmentof myinternship,andare
happyto helpinany way.Also,thankstomy PC BuddiesbackinTexas,Larry andWinnie.Theyare the
onesI run to whenIhave questionsorconcerns.Again,theyhave made thisvery comfortableandfun
for me to learn.Andthanksto everyone whotookthe time outof youday to listentothis.