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Where SUNY Fredonia students want to ultimately live after graduation is a key factor the Career Development Office considers when leading students to prospective internship opportunities and preparing them for the application/interview process.

Even if that location is far away from campus.

Parker Brakebill, a senior Business Administration major, is from Idaho – almost 2,200 miles from campus and in another time zone. But the commute to his summer internship from his home in Eagle, Idaho, to the Boise, Idaho, office of Lee & Associates – a full-service commercial real estate firm that has offices all over the country – was a scant 20 minutes.

“When it comes to time at work, you have to be the first one in the office and the last one to leave the office if you want to succeed in it.” – Parker Brakebill

“The first question that we ask a student,” explains Career Development Office Internship Coordinator Jennifer Wilkins is, ‘Where do you want to be after graduation? Are you looking to go back to your hometown for a short period of time, or somewhere else?’ And then we figure out what’s going to be a good internship based on that information.”

Students who return home for internships and want to settle in that vicinity will save lots of money on living and travel expenses, Ms. Wilkins noted. Summer is an especially popular time for students to undertake an internship.

During his 10-week commercial real estate internship, Mr. Brakebill, who was recruited by Coach Jeff Meredith to play hockey at SUNY Fredonia, gained valuable marketing and research experience and further insight into business analytics applications.

“I did a lot of prospecting to find potential clients, filled out lease forms, letters of intent and purchase agreements and various other documents,” Brakebill explained. He also created a marketing database as well as letters to send out to potential buyers and investors in real estate. Key elements in the database are telephone numbers and email and USPS addresses, along with selling prices of properties that he calculated based on sales of comparable buildings and assets.

Attaining an internship in real estate has always been Brakebill’s goal, said School of Business Associate Professor Susan McNamara, and he was successful in obtaining it in a market where he wants to live. “Besides the skills and experience he gained, he is also networking with potential employers and the community,” added Dr. McNamara, who’s his faculty sponsor.

Brakebill is following in the footsteps of his father by pursuing a career in real estate, though his father is on the residential side and Brakebill wants to focus on commercial properties. “My dad was always in real estate, and I watched him from a young age, and he always told me to get into real estate,” Brakebill said.

How has Brakebill benefitted from this internship?

“The key takeaway is you’re going to get out of it what you put into it,” Brakebill said. “When it comes to time at work, you have to be the first one in the office and the last one to leave the office if you want to succeed in it.”

It takes a lot of hard work and time to succeed in a career, he concluded.