Beyond the Snuggle Room

Well today is my last day working for Unilever (for the time being lets hope, haha). And I just wanted to take a brief moment to reflect on my time here.

On my first day on the job at orientation in Trumbull, CT, I was taking a break from our morning session. As I stood out in the hallway I noticed one room was labeled, the Snuggle Room. A million questions jumped into my head. What could they possibly do in there?? What kind company is this? What did I just get myself into??? So I looked at the next room over and noticed it was labeled the Lipton Room. Then it hit me, Snuggle was the brand (which they've since sold), not the action! I found this became a good lesson for starting any new journey. Things might look strange and uncomfortable at first, but look beyond the Snuggle Room and see things for what they are. You are starting a great opportunity to grow and learn, don't let one little thing stop you now.

Fast forward six months.

I have had a wonderful time here with Unilever. I felt my work interesting and meaningful, which says a lot for a company if they treat their interns with such respect. I enjoyed working with everyone and Clearwater and the great networking opportunities with those I've met in other locations. I had a fabulous relationship with my manager, she gave me the freedom to create my own programs and exceed my expectations, and she always gave me a warm, welcoming smile. I will really miss everyone here and it will certainly be an adjustment to make coming back to school. I look forward to working with any of these great people again, and I hope that I can find a place within Unilever (maybe in the midwest this time) in the future.

Thank you all for following my blog and watching me grow.

Presentation Skills

Next week all the co-ops will get together in Trumbull one last time and present what we've been doing and how it's benefited Unilever. We have ten minutes to present and three minutes for Q&A. No big deal, right? Oh, did I mention our audience? Instead of the original plan of having co-ops and a few managers in the room listening to us, we will now be presenting to a room full of directors and vice presidents, no other co-ops allowed. It definitely pumps up one's nerves, but it's also more exciting this way! Don't get me wrong, I am quite nervous for this presentation, but it's now much more of a big deal, makes a little co-op feel special, haha. So here are a few tips to prepare for the big presentation:

- Start early! You should try to give yourself at least three weeks to prepare, at one week for designing and the rest of your time to practice.

- Yes, practice. You need to practice, practice, practice. If you ever find yourself lacking motivation to practice, remind yourself that this presentation is huge, you do not want to appear unprepared.

- Start like you're living in the Roaring Twenties! Well, I don't mean rebel against conventional modest fashion, but rather, forget the computer. Turn off the screen of life and take out a pad of paper and pen. Write down key ideas, headlines, and even a mock-up of what you're going to say. Often when creating presentations we get so wound up focusing on design elements, like what slide background to use, we forget the important stuff like the content.

- It's all about you. It's not about what fancy animation you have on your slides, so keep it simple when it comes to design. You want your audience focusing on you, your words, and your message. Your slides are there for a supporting pictures or for emphasizing a few words now and then.

- Practice, practice, practice. Practice in front of a camera so you know exactly how others see you. You're your biggest critic so be nice, but be honest. Once you're comfortable, and definitely a week before game day, practice in front of others and request their feedback.

- Know your audience and when you're going to present. Keep it interesting by using demos or multi-media.

- On the day of the presentation, relax. It's ok to be nervous, it shows that you care, but just take a breath and talk at a normal pace. If you get off track, take a deep breath, collect your thoughts, and move on. Try to think of it as fun, remember that you love giving presentations and showing yourself off to upper management!

Pre-Wrap Up

As the semester comes to an end at State, everyone's busy with finals and I myself have a few things to do for EGR 393, my experiential education class. Although my co-op ends in June, I will do a little pre-wrap up now for those involved with EGR 393.

I initially entered my co-op with the notion that I would be doing risk assessments, a method of evaluating the possible risks of hazards that are generated in a location, from a task, or from a machine. I ended up completing my tasked list of risk assessments within about 3 weeks, my manager expected it to take 6 months. So now what? I did a bunch of training available through Unilever, I learned a lot more about supply chain and about the business practices of Unilever - this is a great benefit from working for a large company. I also was able to dip into my creativity and design two employee motivational programs while I was here. The first was based of the Olympics, with themed events like a poster contest and a race for safe ideas, it went on during the Olympics to remind workers to think safe as they saw The Games on TV that night. The second, which is still going on, is a challenge to report more near misses - events which could have resulted in injury - and change those situations quickly so it won't happen again. For the next month I will continue to do risk assessments on new products and I will continue to advocate the Near Miss Challenge. My main hurdle right now is to prepare for our final presentation on June 3rd, 10 minutes alone in a room with directors and VP's explaining what we've done for the past six months and how Unilever benefited. I'm nervous already, but I'm starting to prepare now, by June 3rd I will be ready.

I have had such a wonderful experience working for Unilever, it is an opportunity I would recommend to anyone. I was very pleased to find a career choice I can see myself doing and have some initial practice with it in a real working environment. I have mentioned before that although I definitely am set on a chemical engineering degree, I want it more for the background and less for the actual engineering of chemicals. Safety allows me to do just that, it's a field where technical background is required, but it really has nothing to do with chemical engineering. I am so thankful Unilever chose me for this program and introduced me to safety, I now plan on taking some OSHA classes before graduation to further my career in safety.

The Near Miss Challenge

As safety professionals, we need to deal with three different situations: near misses, first aid injuries, and recordable injuries. Where the latter two are easier to understand, the concept of a near miss may be less so. So what is a near miss? A near miss is a situation where an injury could have occurred. Near misses are the shocking points of our day where a car nearly hits us, or you dropped a plate right next to your foot. When we record near misses and take corrective actions to ensure the event will not occur again, we reduce our chance of getting injured. That being said, whenever there is a near miss in the plant, we want to know immediately and we want to fix it fast. I created a program, similar to the Safety Olympics, in which employees can fill out a form reporting just the near miss for 1 point, offering a solution for 2 points, and even going further and answering a series of why-did-this-happen questions for 3 points. Points can accumulate until a recordable injury occurs, at that time (or before at the discretion of the employee) all points must be "spent" on fun prizes, like embroidered Unilever blankets or free pint of Ben & Jerry's coupons. When employees report a near miss, I immediately record it in a spreadsheet, which I've designed to be continued far after I leave here, and then email the near miss and offered solution to all the managers, expressing the need for a quick response. So far this program is amazing. After only starting it two weeks ago, I have already had 16 entries turned in. Likewise, the response time by the managers is always within an hour and most near miss cases are closed within a week. I am so proud of this program and I am happy to have found a solution that works well for our plant. I know that this new found awareness of near misses will really reduce the hazards around us and keep our workplace safe :)

Back to Risk Assessments

In my location we are undergoing a lot of changes, both in management positions, and in improvement processes. Although most of Unilever already uses the modern system of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), a wonderful strict guideline for really focusing on the small things and improving processes, the ice cream division of Unilever was brought closer into the company last year -previously governed under their own headquarters. That being said, when it came time to doing Focused Improvement training, a system that the co-ops are expected to work off of, my location didn't really know what to make of it. So I finally got my training when I realized I had no idea what Focused Improvement was at the Midpoint Event, I reached out to the co-op coordinator and she put me in touch with a trainer. I reviewed the decks she sent and everything makes so much more sense now! So now I'm going back over my risk assessments and putting them into legible graphs, locating exactly what needs to be targeted to improve - hence "Focused Improvement". The weird part of all of this is though, is that I know all these FI (Focused Improvement) methods that no other manager has seen, or they are just hearing about it. So it's really weird to now balance the fact that I know a lot of the modern Unilever methods of thinking that the rest of this facility is just starting to grasp. What this means for me though is that I'm looking at my work in a whole new way, it's given me a lot of insight on how to now take the data I've collected and do something with it.

A Quick Tip

Just wanted to share a quick smart tip I learned at the Midpoint Event:

Ladies, always carry an extra scarf with you when giving a presentation, now you'll have something to cover up an embarrassing spill or stain if it should happen!

Midpoint Event

On Tuesday and Wednesday I was in Connecticut, for our co-op Midpoint Event. It was a nice trip and it was great to see everyone again! It's funny how those three days of connecting in the beginning of our co-op made lasting friendships, we all continue to communicate with an instant messaging program between Unilever. At the Trumbull facility, we took a tour of research and development (R&D), which was really cool! I've always swayed away from R&D as a career, because I'm not sure if I want to be stuck in a lab all day running experiments. However, we got to see process research which was so cool! Of course they have to research how they're going to make the product on a large scale, and those researchers also get to travel a lot to plants and perform trial runs. So the idea of R&D has definitely opened back up for me. On Wednesday we traveled out to Clinton, CT, and got to tour the original Pond's factory. It was awesome! I'm so used to the ice cream world, smaller, hand packed, older, so seeing the automated lines, one even had a robot(!), was amazing! At the end of the day we practiced our presentations for the final event which will be in June. Practice most certainly makes perfect and I definitely need to get my presentation perfected for when it counts :)

AMMMMMMMMS

Really it's AMMS, which is a CMMS for doing PM's. Right. So AMMS stands for Automatic Maintenance Management System, which is really a CMMS: Computer Maintenance Management System, for doing PM's, or preventative maintenance. Laymen's terms: a computer program that automatically tells you when to do preventative maintenance on a piece of equipment - maintenance to prevent a break. And why am I writing about all these crazy acronyms? Well that's because I just started using AMMS to help design our site's PM program. Which although it's not as cool as a Gucci fashion show, is pretty neat! I'm learning a new-to-me computer program and I'm working on something that will save the company money, because it's better to run the line as scheduled instead of having to stop and wait for a broken machine to get repaired. It's a little frustrating just because the program doesn't contain normal shortcuts, like ctl+f for finding an entry, so I have to just look through all the entries for something, but like I said, I think it's pretty cool to do.

More Risk Assessments!

I'm doing more risk assessments, whoopee! haha. I don't mind, I actually enjoy doing them, I think it's really neat to evaluate area/equipment/task and determine the possible risk of exposure. As I mentioned, I've already completed risk assessments on all the lines on the production floor, now I'm doing every product specifically on a line. So if one line has five different products it can run, I will do five separate risk assessments in addition to the one I've already done on the line. If one product runs on several lines, I will still do it per line, so there will be multiple options for that one product. Largely all I do is copy/paste from the original line assessment and figure out if there's anything new or any changes. However, I have spent a lot of time making it easier to go out on the floor with a guide to determine changes resulting from the different product. To do so, I've gone back to my original assessments and established baseline products - common products for that line that reflect normal use of stationary equipment. For instance, on Polar, a production line, Original Klondike bars are the baseline product. I designed several spreadsheets that progress through the line as I would on the production floor (mix tanks to boxes) to make it easier to note changes. Sometimes we run Reese's Klondike bars on Polar, the main difference here is the barrels of peanut butter and the chopped up pieces of Reese's cups that are added into the product. Because of the two additives, there are three new tasks that need to be added and one new piece of equipment. All the changes go into the master spreadsheet with the baseline product assessment so when I go on the floor with the print out, I can just reference the correct number. Pretty cool stuff.

An update

They say no news is good news... Well I guess that's true, nothing essentially bad is happening, but nothing too great either. I find I really miss being with friends, I feel really alone down here. Often I think if I had a car things would be better, I could get to the beach easier, I could join a community sports team, but the truth is, I don't have a car, and I'm not getting one. So here I am. Work is going well, I'm currently waiting for tomorrow for a meeting with a coworker to map my risk analysis onto a new system of safety maps. That's really all I have to write about, hopefully a more substantial topic surfaces this week.

What About Outside of Work?

What do I do outside of work? Unfortunately, not a whole lot. After work, on weekdays, I typically only have a few hours before bed, so I spend that time cooking dinner, eating, washing dishes, reading, watching tv, etc. On the weekends, I have more time to do fun activities. As a reminder, I live alone and I have no friends here that I can just "hang out" with. It is quite a change from being on a campus of 46,000 students, but as an only child, I have quickly adapted. I find I am exploring some of my favorite hobbies that were not feasible in college, such as baking. I love to bake, and I love having my own kitchen! I also can take the bus to the beach, which I have done a few times, but lately it's been too chilly or rainy. I find I can cope with the time, but I greatly miss being surrounded by friends and people my age. When talking to other co-ops within Unilever who are placed alone in locations, like myself, we have similar experiences with a lack of things to do, mostly due to a lack in companionship. I strongly recommend that during an interview with a potential employer for an internship, you inquire if you will be placed at a location with other interns. Even if these interns are not your bestfriends, it's still nice to see a familiar face.

So What Do You Do, Actually?

An excellent question, what do I actually do at work? Well during my first couple weeks here, I was largely getting acclimated to the plant and my responsbilities. I performed risk assessments on the tasks people did, the equipment they worked with or that surrounded them, and on the entire area they occupied. I analyzed their movements, what did they do at this workstation, who did they interact with, how did they grip things, how did they move around? It was really neat analyzing human behaviors so closely. I then collected any notes I could about safety risks that could occur, even thinking of any unexpected risks. The form I use, which matches the spreadsheet I unput data into, quantifies four categories, Likelihood of Occurrence, Degree of Possible Harm, Frequency of Exposure, and Number of Persons at Risk, then all the numbers multiply together to determine the Hazard Number. If the number is extremely high, we then need to reevaluate the situation and determine changes to be made to lower the hazard number. I also created an employee safety motivational program that is Olympic themed. That started last week and ends this Friday, I have written details on it in a previous blog. So before it began, I spent a lot of time planning and preparing, but now that it is underway, I just monitor progress and answer questions from time to time. Otherwise I participate in meetings about the plant, safety, or my co-op, or I complete training courses about Unilever or about Supply Chain. I am aware I will be doing different things in the future, and when that happens, I will keep you updated.

Coping with the Distance

"Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated." ~Lamartin

Before accepting this internship, I thought long and hard about the consequences, the main one being separated by distance from my loving boyfriend, Brandon. I eventually chose the internship because I was well aware of the wonderful experience I would receive and all that I would learn, but I knew it would be the hardest thing for our relationship. Before I continue, I would like to mention that I am writing about this subject because this blog is to serve as guidance for students evaluating the possibility of an internship experience. Leaving a love one, family, and friends behind is something that will be very present throughout your entire experience. Upon my decision to take the internship, I immediately worked through a plan on visiting my boyfriend. We decided to see each other (face-to-face) every 3 weeks. Although this will result in a lot of traveling, the two trips I have taken already have been the most worthwhile thing I've done. When you're separated from your loved one, it can feel like something is tearing apart inside you. I would equate this with a broken heart, however, it is a mixed feeling because your heart is not broken, you are still together, you still communicate, laugh, and share moments. The times we have actually together make me never want to leave again, I look forward to being with Brandon once again. I need to point out that Brandon supports me in what I'm doing, he understands that this experience will further my career and my education, he continually asks how work is and encourages me to do well and keep on smiling. When deciding to take an internship, or any job offer, it is important to reflect on how it will affect not only you but the people around you. I know my decision did not make things at all easy for Brandon, but our love for each other holds us together. I am so grateful for this co-op, and I love working for Unilever, but I cannot wait to be back in my little place in Michigan, back in Brandon's warm embrace.

A lesson on noticing people

As an intern, you will be thrown in the middle of people wanting to be noticed by you and people who forget who you are, thankfully at my small location, people seldom forget who the one college-aged girl who likes to dress up is. However, it is very important to notice people, whoever they are. I definitely feel a bit sore whenever my buddy or my manager asks if I got an email that was sent to every other manager and I have to reply no. I feel like, albeit unintentionally, that other managers are forgetting about me, forgetting to include me, which is a respect issue. On Friday on of the temporary employees did not follow procedure when a new hire came to the employee entrance. The new hire is supposed to wait in the front, a measure of security. When it was realized that this temporary employee let a "random person" walk around the building, they more or less got chewed out for their mistake. Later that same morning, this man was literally just holding the handle of his ceramic coffee mug, when the cup portion gave out and shattered all over the tile floor. As I helped him pick it up, he (of course) cut his hand on one of the edges of broken ceramic, a first aid that must be recorded. As I saw him in the breakroom during his lunch I went out of my way to ask if his day had become any better. He looked forlorn and replied that it hadn't. On my way out he looked up and told me one of the most sincere "thank you for asking" 's that I had ever heard. I like to think that this one act of noticing something small about someone made his day just a littler better. Things like this are important. You never know how someone feels outside of work, or even during work for that matter. Always take time to say hello and become sincerely involved in getting to know a person.

Safety Olympics

After thinking more about what the plant manager said at the safety conference, about keeping her employees involved and having fun activities to spark the development of new ideas about safety, I began to think about how that could be applied to the plant I'm working at. I asked my manager, Colleene, about her opinion on fun activities for the employees in the theme of safety. She told me that in the past they have done a "safety race" mirroring the Daytona 500. She said, disappointed, that currently the managers are so busy with data entries and desk work, trying to improve production numbers, that the fun activities for employees are falling to the wayside. After Colleene left my office I continued to think about possible fun safety motivators, which brought me to thinking about the Safety Olympics. My idea is that the Safety Olympics will mirror the 2010 Winter Olympics, and will have activities like Cross Country Skiing Race for Safety, Dare to Be Safe Ski Jump, and Individual & Pairs Figure Skating Safe Poster Design Competition. Employees will be able to contribute ideas for safety in the workplace, evaluate their own safety behaviors, and develop a new poster campaign for safety. I understand the importance of mirroring a current media event because when employees are not at work, they will see the Olympics on their TV's and in the news, which will get them thinking about the Safety Olympics at work. I decided to take my idea to Colleene and ask if it would be plausible to accomplish. I mentioned that I value fun in the workplace and incorporating the ideas of everyone, I also explained that I understand that the managers are busy with tedious desk work, but I do not have that problem because my job isn't exactly defined in stone, so I can organize and lead this new project. She was impressed with my forwardness in coming to her with a new idea, and informed me that not only was the idea fabulous, but that I should be ready to present to the employees at the monthly meeting this coming week information about the Safety Olymipcs. I was thrilled to hear her response! So now I'm getting more materials together and preparing to tell the employees our exciting new adventure!

My First Safety Conference

Yesterday I attended my first safety conference, I telephone meeting between all nine Unilever ice cream plants in the US. The plant manager (the head honcho), Ken, at the facility I work at in Clearwater is the safety leader for all the plants, so he lead the conference. The meeting began with Ken going through three slides he made discussing numbers, noting largely the TRFR's (Total Recordable Frequency Rate) from 2009. In general, all the plants were at a different level when it came to safety, but within Unilever, ice cream had one of the highest TRFR's, which needs to be improved. Ken went on to discuss means of improvement, including new programs he would like to implement, and an observation that the ice cream plants in Latin America have a much lower TRFR, so their work should be analyzed. Lastly, one plant has gone 467 work days without an accident (an amazing accomplishment) so Ken asked the plant manager there to discuss what lead to such a great achievement. The plant manager there talked about how they strongly believe in open and frequent communication between the hourly employees and the management. Communication is important because it not only includes the employees, a basic human need, but it has the possibility of seeing things in a new perspective and creating changes for the better. There plant also has weekly safety meetings before the shift starts lead by the shift supervisor. I personal agree with that practice, I feel that discussing safety on a regular basis keeps it fresh in an employees' mind, which decreases the occurrence of a behavioral induced accident. Lastly, the plant manager shared that their plant has many fun programs, keeping safety fun and enjoyable. They have a race for safe ideas, in which 180 employees sat around in their break room coloring race cars and contributing 270 new safety ideas - based off the Daytona 500. They also had a program based off the March Madness games. It does not take many resources to make something fun, and when people are having fun, they're more likely to open up, listen, and reflect on what they've learned. After a few more comments from Ken, the conference came to a close. I really enjoyed sitting in on the safety conference, it was interesting to hear the numbers that we currently hold and our goals for improvement. I am pleased that there is a mentality that when we see someone doing it right, we observe and ask questions, maybe make changes, so we can become better as well.

Product Cutting

As I'm sitting in my office reviewing Material Safety Data Sheets on new chemicals to switch to and the old ones we're currently using, I hear "Low Rider" by War playing on the loud speaker. The music selection indicates that it is product cutting time, signaling designated quality assurance line leaders to come into the quality assurance lab and test the day's product! A selection of each product being produced that day is pulled off the line specifically for product cutting. A group of examiners start by observing the packaging, they look to see if the overwrap is sealed correctly, if the individual wrapping is neatly done. Then each bar of ice cream is taken out of its package and displayed on a lab table. Now the group examines the front side, then the back side, of the product. If the bar is chocolate coated, they'll look to see if there are any obvious holes that was not covered. If the ice cream is sandwiched, the group examines the placement on the cookie, the size discrepancy of the two cookies, and any other quality feature. Some bars have a special addition of an ingredient to the outside, symbolizing its crispiness, or another texture. The group will examine to see how obvious this looks. Now the fun part, every member of the group tastes a few of the products, making sure it tastes how it should and that the consumer will be satisfied. Lastly, if a product contains an additive to the ice cream, like a peanut butter swirl, or chocolate chips, a few bars are sliced open down the center and examined for the correct amount of additive. Product cutting is important because it verifies that the resources used to make the product are functioning correctly, leaving the consumer with a delicious ice cream treat! :D

My First Two Days!

This last Thursday and Friday were my first two days on location in Clearwater, FL working at the original Klondike headquarters/manufacturing plant for Unilever!!! I first met my manager, Colleene, who is really nice and friendly, which made things feel more comfortable. After introducing me to some of the other management staff, I met Mark, my buddy & team leader, who seems to know a plethora of information about safety, which was really fun! Largely the morning consisted of setting up my desk, meeting management, and having a brief run-through of the building layout. I went out for lunch to a delicious Mexican restaurant and met more managers, everyone is really friendly! After getting back to work I sat in on a introductory safety presentation for new-hires who were starting on Friday. It was a lot of information, and it was really long, but it was useful to hear everything that I would need to keep in mind while walking through the production floor, and I also learned a few things, like I can't wear bobby pins - a main way I style my hair :( . I really love working here so far, every single person I meet has such a huge smile on their face, the employees feel so proud of making the ice cream! Friday was largely the same as Thursday, working through the new-hire handbook and I met with the HR manager there, Joanne, and talked about my personality profile. I love that the profile correctly identified me as someone who thrives by receiving any type of feedback, with my manager aware of that, I won't have to struggle to know what people think of my work :D . I also got to go on a plant tour and walk around the mixing room, the production floor, the hardening warehouse, and the engine room. It was so cool! I love watching all the machinery making a food product, I'm so happy I have this internship! As for now I'm finally settling into my apartment, I've got everything unpacked, and I'm trying to remember to cook something before I'm starving :) .

Apartment Searching

On Wednesday I spent the entire day with my mom driving around the Clearwater area searching for an apartment. After touring six apartments, I finally found the one for me! It's wonderful, it is nearby a grocery store, which is important as I don't have a car, it's quiet, there are children running around (I love kids), and it's in a fun part of Largo with the Gulf of Mexico just down the road. So that's great and all, but I'd like to give some advice on finding an apartment.

Before looking for an apartment, search online so you have somewhere to start, find out what you're interested in, some good parts of town to search. Ask around, ask anyone, you never know who has an extended family member living in the area who may have tried some of the apartments you're interested in. We are staying at a hotel and after talking to the concierge, they recommended a very extensive and free apartment guide, which really helped us when we were driving around. Never just sign a lease from what you've seen online, often companies will hide their faults which you need to know about if you're living there! A prime example is a place I found online which held true in person, gorgeous facility, large, friendly, and in the backyard is a strip club -gross. So make sure you drive around an get a feel for the neighborhood you'll be in. Always keep an open mind when touring, you may not like the color of the yellow siding, but it might turn out to be your favorite apartment ever!

Orientation

So it's been awhile since I've had access to a computer, so I apologize for the slack, I will attempt to enter a new post at least once a week. I will talk about three different events that have happened: orientation, apartment finding, and my first two days at work --all in their own post.

Orientation was a lot of fun! All the interns were required to attend the two day supply chain orientation in Trumbull, CT, this past Monday and Tuesday. After arriving on Sunday night, the interns staying in the hotel (those of us not working in Trumbull) all met for dinner and got to know each other. Everyone seemed really great, and what I found interesting is that most of us got along with ease, which I think is related to all of us having a personality that fits in the same company. Most of the interns were in a business related major, and there were maybe about 8 of us in engineering, mostly girls, and mostly chemical engineers.

On Monday we started with a fun ice-breaker and a presentation introducing us to Unilever. Later on, we did team building activities and presentations on supply chain. For fun, some of the coordinators took us out bowling that night, so we all bonded and got to know each other more. Tuesday was a similar layout, with a presentation on Walmart, Unilever's largest consumer, another on business etiquette (a lot of fun!), and more presentations on supply chain. I found the presentations on supply chain to be the most interesting because I really knew nothing about it before orientation. It turns out engineers are very much involved with supply chain in most businesses that produce something. It was really neat to learn how supply chain controls everything from ordering and predicting what materials will be needed and how much, how to deliver it from the raw material supplier to the production facility, how to then deliver the finished product from the manufacturer to the distribution center, then out to the smaller companies. Supply chain does even more, but that's a basic run through of what the division works on.

Leaving orientation, I felt very prepared to start work. I knew how to behave in situations I will more than likely face, what to do at work, and what I should be working toward (the big picture). I also enjoyed meeting the other interns and learning from talking to them about their past experiences and how they find Unilever.

Pre-Boarding

So I leave tomorrow for my 2 day orientation in Trumbull, CT. I am excited to leave and to meet the other co-ops! It's been pretty hectic for awhile but it's all coming together. I find I need to call my contacts with HR almost everyday to get details straightened out and to ask questions. They are very nice and understanding, clearly having experience with students like myself. Because the move from NY to FL is so large and only my mom being able to assist me, I am packing all my things for FL now, taking six checked bags to the airport and flying my belongings from NY to CT to FL. I'm not predicting too much trouble because carts are available and the company is covering the flight/moving expense. Once I get to FL I'll have all of Wednesday to find an apartment, get some furniture (Craigslist or renting), and move in! It sounds like a lot, but the idea of the warm weather is such a great motivator!

Hello & Background

Hi there,

Welcome to my blog on my engineering experiential experience. I am a junior in chemical engineering at Michigan State University about to start a six month co-op for Unilever in Clearwater, Florida. First some background about myself.

I am nineteen and I have been at MSU (in East Lansing, MI) for three semesters plus a summer study abroad. I am in chemical engineering because I am interested in the field and I'm always up for a challenge. I'm doing a concentration in food science because I would like to end up doing something with food or consumer goods, I think it'd be cool to be a part of something you see on the shelf at a store. I love Michigan State, go Spartans!, and I've had a lot of great experiences there. I enjoy going to the football games and concerts, I love the dairy store :D, a walk down grand river is always fun, Menna's -yum. I was able to study abroad this summer for international food laws & regulations in England, Paris, Switzerland, and Italy, and I definitely thank MSU for that opportunity. Overall I have loved my experience at Michigan State. Before MSU I spent all my life living in Pittsford, NY, a town in the Rochester area. I went to a great high school and I really enjoyed growing up in Rachacha.

So why leave wonderful MSU? I decided that an internship/co-op is a necessary experience for any student. A chance to work in the field of the degree you're painstakingly working on allows you to see the industry for what it really is. When I was looking into culinary arts way back in my sophomore year of high school, I discovered that most programs require at least one internship. So why not make it required in other degree programs? I understand that not all degree programs have the opportunity or resources for an experiential education, but I am extraordinarily grateful that Michigan State College of Engineering encourages students like me to pursue an internship/co-op before graduating. So like many other students, I spent a lot of time at Career Gallery talking to potential employers and doing my best to market myself. After an interview with Unilever I received an offer to work in their supply chain management division specifically in Clearwater, Florida, in their ice creams manufacturing facility.

For those of you who may not know of Unilever, I guarantee you've used one of their products. Unilever is an extremely large parent company that produces many smaller products operating under their own brand name. For instance, Unilever is behind Axe and Dove personal care products, they own Hellman's mayonnaise, they produce delicious Bertolli Italian meals, Lipton iced tea, Slimfast, and more. In the ice cream world, they are behind Ben & Jerry's, Breyers, Good Humor, Klondike, and Popsicle. Unilever is a global company with operations all over the world. Unilever also maintains a great relationship with consumers and continues to stay consumer friendly throughout the years.

Although it will be hard to say goodbye's to family and friends, I am looking forward to my new experience. It will be nice to take a break from winter for once and learn what it's like to live in beautiful Clearwater (in the Tampa Bay area). I am excited to learn more about Unilever and show the company how I can be a great potential full time hire in the future. I am really looking forward to finally using all that school work and applying it to making something people eat everyday!

You are welcome to leave comments below on what you would like me to talk about. I understand that some of my readers are students who are looking into an experiential education. Thanks for reading and I will be sure to keep you updated!