This summer I got the opportunity to intern for Christopher Augostini, Georgetown

Universitys Senior Vice President and Chief perating fficer! I too" on this opportunity
#ecause of my interest in e$p%oring #usiness as a possi#%e career! I "now I want to app%y to
#usiness schoo% in co%%ege& however I am unsure what area of #usiness I want to study! 'ecause
Augostini oversees the entire Georgetown operation inc%uding the ffice of (inancia% Affairs, the
Investments ffice, the University (aci%ities and Student )ousing *epartment, )uman
+esources, Interna% Audit and +is" ,anagement and the University Information Services, I "new
I cou%d get hands-on e$perience in a num#er of #usiness-re%ated careers! I was hopefu% that this
internship wou%d give me a #etter sense of what peop%e do in the fie%d of #usiness and %ead me to
an area of study to focus on when I start my app%ications this fa%%! ,y summer goa% was to
e$p%ore and %earn as much as I cou%d a#out careers re%ated to finance, economics, internationa%
re%ations, and #usiness administration!
'efore I started my internship, I "new I had to get myse%f organi.ed! The first thing I did
to prepare for the /o# was to research Augostini and his team! I found a num#er of artic%es
out%ining Augostinis career and %earned a#out his road to success! It was interesting to me that
he did not ma/or in #usiness in co%%ege! Instead, he ma/ored in government re%ations and pu#%ic
po%icy! Augostini started his career interning and eventua%%y wor"ing for the state of 0ew 1or"! It
wasnt unti% %ater that he got his ,'A and #egan wor"ing in areas of (inance! Prior to coming to
Georgetown, Augostini wor"ed for ,ayor +udo%ph Giu%iani and was in charge of #udget
operations and intergovernmenta% affairs! )e then moved to 2ashington *C and too" a position
at Georgetown as the Chief (inancia% fficer and Treasurer! Investigating Augostinis
#ac"ground rea%%y shed %ight on the many different paths you can ta"e to get to your career! It
a%so made me rea%i.e that it is not on%y the degree you get in co%%ege, #ut the wor" e$perience
you are a#%e to o#tain during schoo% and how the peop%e you meet can mentor you and he%p you
determine areas of interest to e$p%ore! Augostini ended up wor"ing for ,ayor Giu%iani and
wor"ed his way up the %adder! Prior to coming to Georgetown, Augostini was in charge of ,ayor
Giu%ianis #udget operations and intergovernmenta% affairs! )e then moved to 2ashington *C
and too" a position at Georgetown as the Chief (inancia% fficer and Treasurer!
2e actua%%y ta%"ed a#out his career path on my interview! )e to%d me that he attri#uted
his success to "nowing the importance of team wor" and not wor"ing in a vacuum! This made
perfect sense to me #ecause many of the artic%es I read a#out Augostini ta%"ed a#out his
successfu% initiatives and pro/ects centered on team #ui%ding and co%%a#oration with others! I
%earned a#out a num#er of campus initiatives he has %aunched, and even found videos of him
%eading student-facu%ty interactive 3roundta#%es4! I made it my mission to %earn a#out what it
ta"es to successfu%%y manage a team and prepared #y reading up on Georgetowns other vice
presidents too! I figured that I wou%d pro#a#%y #e seeing them in meetings and around
Augostinis office and I wanted to ma"e sure I "new who each of them were and how their wor"
contri#uted to Augostinis and Georgetowns success! 5ast%y, I prepared my wardro#e! I "new
that wor"ing in a #usiness environment I had to %oo" the part! 'efore I started my summer
internship, I made sure I had a num#er of ties, dress shirts and pants! It was important for me to
not on%y %earn a#out the day to day operations of Augostini and his team, #ut to %earn what it was
%i"e to #e a part of the team and dress the part!
n my first day, I hit the ground running! After #eing given a campus tour #y Augostinis
6$ecutive Assistant 6%aine 7ieg%er, I immediate%y got wor"ing on my first ma/or pro/ect,
assisting with Georgetown University )ospita%s merger with the ,edStar Corporation! I was
given a p%ethora of #ac"ground information from Augostini to read so I cou%d understand the
comp%e$ity of what goes into a corporate merger! +ight off the #at, I was a#%e to o#serve various
aspects of #usiness pertaining to hospita% administration, finance and corporate %aw! I o#served
firsthand the finance teams wor" sty%e and the processes they went through on a dai%y #asis
re%ated to a%% aspects of the merger! I spent my first wee" on the /o# reading up on o%d transition
team documents and c%osing records! ,y /o# was to go through the summaries, ma"e copies of
different parts of documents, create on%ine fi%es, and reorder the documents chrono%ogica%%y so
the team cou%d easi%y access their wor"! 2hi%e my /o# was organi.ationa%, Augostini made me
fee% %i"e my wor" was not trivia% and that I was an important part of the team! Again this struc"
me as a "ey characteristic of a good #usinessman and %eader! After one wee", I rea%i.ed that the
"ey to a successfu% #usiness operation wasnt in how smart and how good Augostini was at his
/o#& it was more a#out how effective he was at managing and wor"ing with his team! Augostini
surrounded himse%f with a team that wor"ed we%% together and comp%imented each other! 0o
matter how #ig and comp%e$ the ,edstar merger seemed to #e, his team navigated through the
tas"s seam%ess%y! They a%% wor"ed together and comp%eted the tas" with ease! 0o one person
seemed to #e more important to ensuring that the tas" got comp%eted than another!
After I got my feet wet with the ,edStar case, Augostini #egan #ringing me in more and
more to do tas"s for him direct%y! 'ecause of my potentia% interest in internationa% #usiness, he
showed me some of the wor" he had #een a#%e to accomp%ish dea%ing with the internationa%
e$pansion of the university to *oha, 8atar and Shanghai, China! It was very interesting going
through the Chinese #usiness cards he co%%ected throughout his trave%s and seeing which
corporations and #usinesses he teamed up with to e$pand the campuses in China! Augostini
showed me his sma%%-sca%e mode% of Shanghai and the future e$pansion campus! I a%so got to
%oo" through and sort documents for the Schoo% of (oreign Service and %earn a#out the changes
#eing made with the hiring of a new dean! Again this wor" gave me firsthand "now%edge a#out
what it ta"es to not on%y run a #usiness #ut e$pand a #usiness! It gave me insight into different
aspects of #usiness operations, finance and internationa% affairs!
In addition to the firsthand "now%edge and e$perience I gained wor"ing on a num#er of
comp%e$ tas"s with Augostini, #e%ieve it or not, one of the things I en/oyed most a#out my
internship was #eing his 3gopher4 and running misce%%aneous errands! As a gopher, I got to see
what it was %i"e to wor", eat, and p%ay in the midst of our nations capita%& and one of the nicer,
more e$citing neigh#orhoods at that! ,any days I ran across campus and around the city
de%ivering documents for Augostini! I a%so often went and got %unch for him or other senior team
mem#ers! )eading from the 5auinger 5i#rary wa%" down to , street was a%ways fun! Seeing a%%
of the shops and attractions in Georgetown and even passing #y mu%tip%e nationa% em#assies was
very eye opening and e$citing! I was a#%e to o#serve the per"s and the %avish %ifesty%e that comes
with hard wor" and high-ran"ing positions! Gourmet %unches, persona% assistants, and the most
advanced techno%ogy on the mar"et a%% #ecame the ordinary %ifesty%e for my fe%%ow emp%oyees!
'esides wor"ing direct%y with Augostini, I a%so got the opportunity to wor" with his
6$ecutive Assistant 6%aine 7ieg%er and two of his direct reports, *ata +is" Ana%yst 8iang 9u
Ph!*! and Chief 'usiness fficer *e##y ,orey! I was fortunate enough to sit down and ta%" with
7ieg%er, 9u and ,orey on a num#er of occasions and hear how they started their careers& how
they ended up wor"ing at Georgetown and what they do for the University! 9u and ,orey even
%et me get invo%ved in a pro/ect they were current%y invo%ved in: conducting an economic
ana%ysis on Georgetowns 0CAA sports! This was #y far, one of the coo%est pro/ects I got to #e
part of! 9u and ,orey headed up the team e$amining every aspect of Georgetowns sports!
They put together a report for Augostini that out%ined what it ta"es to run 0CAA sports at
Georgetown and compared the schoo%s operations to other 0CAA universities! It was a cost
ana%ysis of everything you cou%d imagine from paying coaches and trainers, to giving out ath%etic
scho%arships, and from running and staffing every /o# needed to operate the sports faci%ities and
stadiums! The goa% of the report was to ma"e sure Georgetown was in %ine with its financia%
operations compared to other 0CAA *ivision ; schoo%s and to determine where if needed
changes shou%d #e made! Their wor" gave me another great opportunity to see an aspect of
finance and economics and again how important it is to wor" as a team to stream%ine operations
and #udgets!
I was a%so fortunate enough to shadow 9u and 7ieg%er and e$perience what each does on
a day to day #asis! *uring my time with 7ieg%er, I %earned the va%ue of the %itt%e things and the
importance of strong #ehind the scenes attention to detai%, organi.ation and %eadership! (or every
transaction or simp%e move I made with 7eig%er, I had to fi%% out e$tensive paperwor" and ma"e
sure I fo%%owed the correct procedures! 9u a%so taught me how to interpret economic pro/ection
graphs and taught me a#out the va%ue of economic efficiency! At the end of my internship, he
gave me a #oo" on 6conomic 6fficiency which I wi%% definite%y read a%ong with the #oo"
Augostini gave me #y Patric" 5encioni tit%ed 3The (ive *ysfunctions of a Team4! I %earned more
than I cou%d have imagined during my internship this summer, and whi%e I sti%% am unsure a#out
my career path and what area of #usiness I want to focus on in co%%ege, I "now that teamwor"
wi%% #e a va%ua#%e part of my success in schoo% and in the future! Augostini definite%y made an
impression on me and I have a%ready incorporated much of what he has taught me in my wor" as
vice president of my senior c%ass!