Hi! My name is Brock Williams (Class of 2023) and I am a Mathematics-Economics combined major with a minor in Computer Science. I am spending the summer in Hoqiuam, Washington, working for non-profit organization called the Cascade Collegiate League and the commissioner Ben Krueger. When trying to figure out what I was going to do internship-wise this summer, I was not entirely sure what I was going to do as I was coming back from major arm surgery and was not able to do my original internship I had applied for, but I knew I wanted to do something with coding. So, when I found out that this organization was looking for a Front Office/Data Analytics intern, I thought it would be perfect. The Cascade Collegiate League is a non-profit organization that allows collegiate baseball players the opportunity to continue their careers during the summer and compete at the level during the off season.
A typical day of work for me could mean a variety of different things. During the weekends, I can be found in Hoqiuam working with players, others interns, and the commissioner in order to make sure that the league is running properly. This could mean help running online streams for games, or making sure players get where they need to be on any given weekend. During the week, the job consists of me being at home and using the programming language R to help make projections for players and their statistics which is something that has really become interesting to me as baseball is a large part of my life. Other things that I can be found doing during the week also pertain to what I do on the weekend with helping players get where they need to be and finding people that they can travel with if need be.
Upon the completion of my internship and reflecting on what I have accomplished, I realize that I have furthered my skills in many things. For example, prior to the start of this internship, I felt that I had some knowledge of the use of the language R, but now I feel that I am relatively fluent in the language. Not only my technical skills have improved, but I also feel that I have further developed my communication skills. Being forced to communicate with coworkers, make sure everything is working properly, and reach out to players have played a big part in this. This experience interning for this organization has been somewhat difficult, but very rewarding and I cannot wait to see how it helps me further develop my skills in the future.
Experiences like Brock Williams’s are made possible by the Whitman Internship Grant, which provides funding for students to participate in unpaid internships at nonprofit, some for-profit, and government organizations. We are happy to be sharing blog posts from students who were supported by either a summer, fall, spring, or year-long grants at organizations, businesses, and research labs all around the world. To learn how you could secure a Whitman Internship Grant or host a Whitman intern at your organization, contact us at ccec_info@whitman.edu.