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Dan certainly isn't the type to just sit on the sidelines and watch life go by. Before graduating from Claremont McKenna College, this Economics major had already managed to complete an internship with Intel, work summers at several dot.com startups, and supplement his income by workings as a mechanic. After graduation, Dan decided to snag yet another internship with IBM at the Extreme Blue™ program in 2001.
"With the Extreme Blue internship, I finally was able to really dig in and work with something from start to finish," he says. "I found this really rewarding and a lot different from my other internship experiences."
While working at Almaden Research Center, Dan was able to pick up some valuable technical skills that he now uses a great deal since joining IBM full time. In addition, Dan says he met with lots of top executives and had the opportunity to do plenty of networking.
"As far as networking goes, it was amazing. The network I've gained at the Extreme Blue program is still paying dividends. Student peers, mentors, and the internship staff will continue to be a source of professional support and advice," he explains.
Dan says he was particularly impressed with his Extreme Blue peers and was pretty amazed at the caliber of individuals that he worked with at the Extreme Blue program.
"I felt like I was accomplished coming into the program, but when you get here you realize you're not the only one that's worked really hard and has plenty of impressive accomplishments," he says. "I think it says a lot about the Extreme Blue program and the type of interns that are attracted to the program."
Dan continues to stay in touch with some of his Extreme Blue mentors and says his internship experience definitely played a role is deciding to stay and work full time with IBM.
"After I graduated, I joined this Extreme Blue internship not really knowing where I wanted to work," he says. But I was impressed enough, that I knew this would be home. I'm hoping to do some great things here, and I can honestly say, I really want to spend the rest of my career at IBM."
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