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Troy renovates about ten houses a year with the help of five employees and a variety of subcontractors. He does a lot of the work himself, which makes him a little sentimental. “I think about the future of that house—the newborn baby that might be brought home to it, the Christmas tree that will fill the front window, the driveway where a kid may learn to ride their bike…,” he trails off, adding, “It’s cool to be a hidden part of those future memories.”
In the Black, Thanks to the Black School In early 2011, one of Troy’s houses caught the attention of producers at HGTV, who featured his home in My First Place. “Not only did they want to use my house on the show, but it’s the one the woman on the show wanted to buy, so I sold it, too,” he said. He’s sold all of his houses, at a profit. “My education has given me such an advantage over my competition,” he said. “Every house is a mini management project that requires budgeting, accounting, team building, and more. I’ve been fortunate to learn those things from the best in the business—my father and the Black School of Business.” Troy is currently in talks with a major TV network about filming a reality show based on his houseflipping endeavors. • Read more in a Q&A with Troy at behrend.edu/magazine. • Visit nashvilleflipped.com, or follow Troy at twitter.com/nashflipped.
Ultimate Internships Revealed It was billed as the Ultimate Internship Contest, a chance for Penn State Behrend students who had participated in career-related work experiences to share what they learned for the chance to win prizes that included event tickets and gas cards. “Students were asked to submit essays detailing the work that they had performed, the uniqueness of the experience, and how it connected to their future career plans,” said Courtney Steding, internship counselor in the Academic and Career Planning Center, which sponsored the contest. And the winners were…. 1st place — Angela Sweeney, global service organization intern at GE Transportation in Erie
Year/Major: Senior, dual major in Finance and Business Economics What he did: “I was immediately given important responsibilities. By the end of the internship, I was analyzing, summarizing, and approving multimillion dollar Andrew McDonald contracts!” Accomplishments: “The internship exposed me to how a large corporation manages to keep all of the aspects of its business running smoothly and efficiently. The work was challenging and demanding, and by the time I left, I had learned a lot about how to handle stressful deadlines and solve problems.” Runner-up — Brooke Schupp, supply chain purchasing intern at Occidental Chemical Petroleum in Dallas, Texas Year/Major: Junior majoring in Interdisciplinary Business with Engineering Studies
Angela Sweeney
Year/Major: Senior, dual major in International Business and Marketing What she did: “I was hired to help commercialize a new product that required knowledge in a number of areas of marketing. Because the product was created for an international market, my background in international business significantly helped the development of our product.” Why it was the Ultimate Internship: “It fit exactly into my career objective, and I was able to take part in professional development the entire time I was there. GE has a terrific internship program that is designed to help interns grow and improve by setting and achieving goals.” Runner-up — Andrew McDonald, finance intern in the Engineering and Technology Department at SiriusXM in Washington, D.C.
Brooke Schupp, far left.
What she did: “I had multiple small projects and two fairly large ones, which were a bid for pipe insulation between two competitors and creating a spend report in Excel with pivot tables.” Accomplishments: “As the result of my bid project on the pipe insulation, I was able to save OxyChem 5.7 percent over three years’ time. Seeing dollars saved because of the work I did was one of the most satisfying parts of my internship.”
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