The Intern’s Corner; Getting Started

Casual midday’s view to the west, looking out over Alexandria from the entrance of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.

Hmm, let’s see then, how shall I delve into this whole bloggery business? As this is my inaugural post, I suppose that for continuity’s sake some further background into myself as well as the specific position that I’m in would certainly be appropriate.

For those who haven’t read my Saint Rose Student Blogger blurb, my name is Christopher “Kip” Stillman and I am a second semester senior at The College of Saint Rose majoring in economics. With that being said, there will be no further use of “Christopher” in these writings. My whole life I’ve been Kip, which is far more suitable and allows me the luxury of actually being able to fit my whole name on any standard line asking for such. I mention this simply to nip the inevitable in the bud. Every time someone initially sees or hears this the same question ensues; “How’d you get Kip outta Christopher?” The answer, of course, is really quite simply. After being birthed, my older brother of 20 months, Matt, didn’t quite yet have the whole speaking thing down, so Christopher came out Kipstopher, cut that to Kip and there ya go.

All right, one tangent aside. My apologies, I’ve just found that it’s good to get that out of the way. I’ll digress onto why I’m blogging in the first place. Facilitated through the College’s office of Alumni Relations, a wonderful, generous group of alumnae from the graduating class of 1970 have established the PROJECT 70 scholarship/internship gift initiative. Utilizing the group’s established and diverse multi-industry relations, a student from the college is able to experience an 8 to 10 week summer internship. This summer’s opportunity is a business internship with the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. I was, and continue to be thrilled to have been chosen as the recipient of this unique experience.

I’ve just finished my second week of interning at the ACRP. The office is scenically situated on the west bank of the Potomac River, just a few miles south of Washington D.C., in the charming city of Alexandria, Virginia. By now I imagine that most are probably wondering, “So what the cornflakes is the Association of Clinical Research Professionals?” Wonderful question! I’ve learned that the most efficient way to describe the ACRP is to allow the association to speak for itself. As the ACRP website states,

“ACRP supports clinical research professionals through membership, training and development, and certification. Founded in 1976, ACRP is a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization with more than 13,000 members who work in clinical research in more than 70 countries.

ACRP’s vision is that clinical research is performed ethically, responsibly, and professionally everywhere in the world. ACRP’s mission is to promote excellence in clinical research.”

Hopefully that provides some clarification, and I’m sure that my future writings will continue to flesh things out.

My role as the summer business intern gives me the pleasure of working with multiple departments, learning about their role inside the association and how they keep a nonprofit entity successful in a niche industry such as clinical research. So far I’ve gotten the chance to assist the offices of Global Conference & Exhibition, Business Development, as well as Advertising and Exhibit Sales. Before I came here I had a well-established, visceral fear of office life. The thought of imprisonment by the confines of a cubicle and necktie made me cringe. With little substantial experience to base this off, it being birthed from various pop culture like the movie, Office Space, my attitude toward the whole matter has changed drastically. Our office has a super relaxed, comfortable culture, housed in a very modern, open space that is extremely conduce to working as a team and promoting collaboration.

Hopefully this has been a sufficient introduction to my experience that I’ll continue to relay as it unfolds. I’ll have further details regarding some of the aforementioned topics I’ve discussed here, and I expect a few good stories to spin the next time I write. For all of us here at the Saint Rose Blog, I’m Kip Stillman, you stay classy Albany.