Lehigh University Athletics
Photo by: Matt Smith
Internship Spotlight: Denny Nealon
10/14/2020 11:26:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse, Features
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic creating obstacles, a number of Lehigh men's lacrosse student-athletes completed worthwhile internships over the summer. We continue by spotlighting senior Denny Nealon.
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications
Every opportunity is valuable.
Just ask Denny Nealon.
Nealon's initial summer internship with WSFS Bank changed, but he made the most of it… and learned a lot about himself along the way.
"I originally was going to be a corporate finance intern," said Nealon. "I was really excited to do that, but unfortunately, it got shut down due to COVID-19. I was fortunate enough to be offered another spot within the WSFS line of work and was put in the cash connect group, which is financial settlement. In simple terms, I was using the WSFS database to make sure all our money was in balance, so all the money going out was coming back in.
"I was basically making sure that our customers were returning the money we lent."
It was a 10-week virtual internship, totaling around 40 hours per week.
"Everything was on-the-fly training on Zoom," said Nealon. "It was tough at first, but my mentor did a really good job teaching me and it was a pretty smooth transition. It gave me a sense of routine that I was missing throughout the rest of quarantine."
Most of Nealon's work was individual, which was especially understandable considering he was working remotely.
"Monday through Thursday was all individual work, and it was me crunching numbers," he said. "Friday, we had our team meetings where we'd go over any problems. That was when we sat down and talked with management about what we could improve on, what we're doing well and what we should continue."
Nealon did well with the individual work, but he was missing human connections found in teams.
"This summer, I realized one of the main reasons I didn't love my internship was because it was very individual-work based," he said. "I don't know if that was just because of COVID and me having to work remotely, but I feel like I work best within teams. In my future, I see myself working on a team and with people. I feel like I'm at my best when I'm communicating with others."
All this isn't to say Nealon didn't enjoy his experience.
Because he did.
The summer reinforced to Denny that college is the time to learn about career interests – not only what you like, but also what you may not like.
"Everybody should be open to just about any opportunity they're offered," he said. "Even if it's not your initial thought of what you really want to do for the rest of your life, it may be and you're missing out if you're skipping over it looking for the perfect job.
"On the other side, even if you don't end up liking the job, then it's taught you that you don't like this job for X, Y and Z reasons. I feel like there's value in learning that you don't like something, just as much as finding out you do like something."
Nealon's eyes do remain set on working in banking in some capacity post-graduation.
"I've always wanted to be in banking, but not necessarily in financial settlement," said Nealon.
"This really gave me a broad sense of how a bank operates and how it works."
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications
Every opportunity is valuable.
Just ask Denny Nealon.
Nealon's initial summer internship with WSFS Bank changed, but he made the most of it… and learned a lot about himself along the way.
"I originally was going to be a corporate finance intern," said Nealon. "I was really excited to do that, but unfortunately, it got shut down due to COVID-19. I was fortunate enough to be offered another spot within the WSFS line of work and was put in the cash connect group, which is financial settlement. In simple terms, I was using the WSFS database to make sure all our money was in balance, so all the money going out was coming back in.
"I was basically making sure that our customers were returning the money we lent."
It was a 10-week virtual internship, totaling around 40 hours per week.
"Everything was on-the-fly training on Zoom," said Nealon. "It was tough at first, but my mentor did a really good job teaching me and it was a pretty smooth transition. It gave me a sense of routine that I was missing throughout the rest of quarantine."
Most of Nealon's work was individual, which was especially understandable considering he was working remotely.
"Monday through Thursday was all individual work, and it was me crunching numbers," he said. "Friday, we had our team meetings where we'd go over any problems. That was when we sat down and talked with management about what we could improve on, what we're doing well and what we should continue."
Nealon did well with the individual work, but he was missing human connections found in teams.
"This summer, I realized one of the main reasons I didn't love my internship was because it was very individual-work based," he said. "I don't know if that was just because of COVID and me having to work remotely, but I feel like I work best within teams. In my future, I see myself working on a team and with people. I feel like I'm at my best when I'm communicating with others."
All this isn't to say Nealon didn't enjoy his experience.
Because he did.
The summer reinforced to Denny that college is the time to learn about career interests – not only what you like, but also what you may not like.
"Everybody should be open to just about any opportunity they're offered," he said. "Even if it's not your initial thought of what you really want to do for the rest of your life, it may be and you're missing out if you're skipping over it looking for the perfect job.
"On the other side, even if you don't end up liking the job, then it's taught you that you don't like this job for X, Y and Z reasons. I feel like there's value in learning that you don't like something, just as much as finding out you do like something."
Nealon's eyes do remain set on working in banking in some capacity post-graduation.
"I've always wanted to be in banking, but not necessarily in financial settlement," said Nealon.
"This really gave me a broad sense of how a bank operates and how it works."
Players Mentioned
A
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