CMAT INTERNSHIP 495

Adulthood for a Summer

Blake Parker

Summer 2019
 This summer I had the privilege to be apart of a startup security company located out of

Huntington, NY. While I participated in a mentorship program a summer ago, this one was

unique due to the smaller size of the company. My experience was tailored to teaching me ways

to become a better leader, while also being able to follow the flow of good ideas by those around

you. I learned a lot of valuable lessons through my 4 weeks with GXC Inc. and met a lot of

influential people. So, how did I get so lucky? The summer of 2018 I had an internship through

MSA Security, due to a connection my dad had to the VP of Business Development, Gerald

Goss. Through my time there I was able to build a network of contacts who I feel I made a good

impact on. I was having a conversation with one of my contacts whom I worked alongside at

MSA and he mentioned a company that was looking for interns. He felt I would be great for the

position this summer and made the introduction to the CEO, Genaro Cavazos. Genaro and I

clicked right away, and he offered me the internship after a few on the phone interviews. This

internship turned into a good working relationship, and I now have another great

recommendation for when I graduate if I chose not to work with him in the future.

My experience began much differently than any other job or internship I’ve had. Most of

my work experience is in food service, until my internship last summer. While this internship

was in the same industry as last year’s it felt vastly different. I was not given “busy work” or

simple tasks to accomplish that had no real lesson. Everything I did contributed to some piece of

the puzzle, and that felt so rewarding. Not only was my work being used to help edit drafts of

proposals, I managed a social media account briefly, I even wrote up reports to be sent to

government agencies as deliverables.

I learned a lot about communication within this internship, specifically managerial

communication in the professional workplace. My internship supervisor, Genaro Cavazos, has an

amazing ability to always know what to say. He seemed to be a very well-rounded candidate,

able to pitch to anyone while also know the ins and outs of every product. Working under him all

summer was a paid lesson into how to be successful. One thing that was stressed was no matter

what job he asked me to do he was willing to do it as well. It was stressed that that is what makes

people good leaders, willing to do what you ask the lowest person on the totem pole to do. He

not only spoke about this but acted on it multiple times. He communicated to everyone in the

office effectively through what he did and little with what he said. Communication isn’t always

telling people what to do but asking them if they’re able to do it. It’s better to ask of someone

than demand because people are more inclined to help you when they know they can, and less

inclined when you’re forcing them to. He stressed to always be aware of when you’re “the boss”

and when you’re “the leader”. People tend to give to a boss, but they follow a leader. Genaro

always said, “I don’t want people just telling me what I want to hear, or what they think I expect

from them. I want people to want to work for me because they know I’m willing to work for

them”. Loyalty and eagerness seemed to go a long way for him, and I am a very eager person,

especially when doing something I find interest in.

During my summer internship I started to see my values shift form my typical work day

in other professions. I stopped watching the clock. I no longer rushed what I did or just sent in

whatever I had because I couldn’t understand it. After thinking about why I had this change, I

realized it is because of the culture working at GXC. The communication of this culture wasn’t

outright and told to me, it was developed through my experiences with the people working

alongside me. I learned that certain cultures exasperate communication. There were no stupid

answers or questions. Everything wrong was turned into a lesson with no judgement because if

every individual was to improve, then the company improves. That is a mantra for success that I
fully supported. Genaro backed that mantra up many times when I was the kid in the room and

didn’t understand all the big business jargon. Countless times him and I would have meetings

after our main meetings, and he would walk me through what was discussed and the effects it

had. That spread a feeling of acceptance and willingness to teach which sparked an even greater

willingness to learn from me. Building that culture, brick by brick, that was huge in how much I

enjoyed the internship.

There were two things I realized about this career field after my internship, and one of

them I am a fan of. I learned that it takes a lot of work to be successful. Small businesses usually

die out in their first five years, and in order to become a big name there has to be a lot of hours

put in. Genaro shared stories with me of all-nighters he had to pull to make sure a proposal was

completely ready to be sent out in the morning. Documents that ranged in length from 350-500

pages, and required meticulous detail, but someone had to review them. I enjoyed that part. I

liked the feeling of knowing that I’ll be working hard all the time. It made me have a sense of

future pride for myself when I eventually get that task completed, knowing that it couldn’t have

been done without my work ethic. I’ve also never wanted to do a job where I did nothing all day

and got paid. I want to see my work come to life and show the impact of the effort I had into a

project. My internship last year did not give me that. There were days where I went in,

accomplished my tasks by noon and then was left waiting for my next assignment for hours.

From my brief experience with his company, I could tell that was not the case, and I love that.

Although the internship was positive and I had a great experience, there was something I

did not like. The amount of detail in every bit of writing proposal. These documents are littered

with huge words and acronyms that I had no business reading yet. Mind numbing information

that often is boiler plate knowledge to most people in the industry. In that sense it made me feel
like I was so behind everyone else (men and women 25-30 years older than me with loads more

experience). While I know I shouldn’t feel down about not being as experienced as everyone

else, it was often frustrating to understand the level of detail these documents possessed. I still

appreciate the time and effort I put into reading them and the information I did learn and keep

with me, I know it will assist me in the future, however there is so much I know I must learn. I

expressed my frustration one Friday to Genaro. He sat me down in his office and we had an eye-

opening conversation about work, life, and life v. work. His exact words that I won’t forget were,

“get comfortable being uncomfortable.”. At first, I thought how is anyone ever successful when

they’re always uncomfortable? He explained it to me like this, “if you’re ever comfortable it

means you’ve stopped pushing, you’re now content. Do you know what happens to content

people in the world of business? They fail. Not the ‘failure breeds lessons which turns into

success’ fail either. They fail, their business dies. I don’t want my business to die, so I am always

uncomfortable because I know there is always someone else trying to do it better, faster, bigger,

and more convenient than me at a lower cost.”. That conversation resonated with me deeply

because I’m a believer in the Darwinism business-model that is capitalism, you are successful

until someone does it better than you.

While the hard work did not surprise me, the immense detail and tedious nature of the

work did. The technical side of getting business is a very mind intensive job, but one I still feel I

can succeed in. I was able to read a lot of proposal work, both proposals that won contracts and

lost. This gave me the ability to see just how huge small mistakes can be. The internship was a

great learning experience because I got to see the “behind the scenes” look at how successful

companies acquire contracts.

 This specific internship has opened my eyes to my future career immensely. Pre-

internship I was really focused on how much money I would make in my career. That aspect of

the job was always at the top of my interests because financial security is a huge part of

adulthood. However, after this internship I feel my sights are more set on enjoying what I do,

rather than the money that I get from it. Working alongside amazing people such as, Genaro

Cavazos and Angela Washington gave me clarity into the enjoyment of work. Every day was a

new lesson and a fun experience with people I had never known outside of this internship. I had

the ability to work alongside amazing people and enjoy my job for the first time in my young

life. That for me changed my opinion on what I wanted to do and who I wanted to do it with. If

given the opportunity, especially with this company, I would like to work within Program

Management for a Security Company. I enjoyed knowing that my efforts worked toward the goal

of keeping people safe by providing services such as protection to government buildings and

public institutions. Doing that while also testing myself with new challenges everyday on the job

made me feel a lot of pride in my work. Seeing the pieces come together to fill out that perfect

puzzle that could win your company a multimillion-dollar contract seems like an enjoyable life

to me. I would certainly say that this internship allowed me the clarity to say I am much more

confident in what I want to do once I graduate college. I am confident in my ability to play a

vital role in a company’s winning of a contract.

I believe there are a lot of aspects to be proud of in this internship this summer. I pushed

myself every day to be a better person, worker, and student than the day before. I expanded my

mind to encapsulate foreign ideas that I had never dreamed of understanding. Every other day I

met someone knew and was forced to sell myself to them so that I gave a good impression and

was able to expand my network even further. I took diligent notes in meetings, on phone
conferences, and throughout the day of everything I did as to keep track and remember important

lessons that were taught that day. My ability to treat everyday as an opportunity to gain

knowledge impressed myself. I acted as if I was studying for a final during my internship and the

test is going to be presented to me once I graduate. There were so many things to be proud of

because unlike any job before, this internship allowed me the room to grow and become a better

me.

The proudest aspect of this internship was my ability to fail. I started to get comfortable

with the idea of not being the best, because I knew I was still giving my best effort. It’s hard to

get comfortable with failing or not having the best ideas, but with this internship I was able to do

that. Walking into a meeting and not being the smartest person in there, or even the one with the

most to say is eye opening. Take it from a kid who knows everything, I do not know everything.

Being in a position where there is ever growing information to obtain was overwhelming yet

satisfying. I knew that even if I didn’t retain all of the information thrown at me, I would obtain a

good amount of it. I learned about wrap rates, a term I am still not too familiar with due to the

fact that I can’t seem to forget other facts I acquired over the course of this internship. Genaro

would sometimes ask me questions that even he knew I did not know the answer to. He was

testing to see if I was comfortable with saying, “I don’t know”, which fortunately for me I am.

Accepting you don’t know is accepting you are willing to learn. If there is one thing I know

about myself after this internship it is that I am more than willing to learn new information, and I

believe that gives me an edge.

Often during my summer internship, I was over critical of my ability. I doubted myself

after not understanding certain terms or overall procedures of a company I had just gotten to

know. Working with people who know everything because they founded the company and have
been there from the beginning can be tough. I disappointed myself by consistently being upset

about the fact I knew less than others. Even with my willingness to learn and eager to please, I

still found time to question if I would be successful due to my lack of knowledge. Do people

view me as a nuisance because of my ignorance to the subject matter? Why am I not grasping

these concepts? All of these are questions I asked myself during my internship and looking back

I am disappointed. I should understand that it isn’t my fault to not know everything right away,

but it is my fault to not try and learn it. The pressure to be perfect comes from myself and I really

wanted to be able to do everything, but it was not possible with some of the tasks asked of me. I

had to be taught and I had to learn the correct process. While this was frustrating sometimes, I

am proud of my ability to not let that frustration show while partaking in my internship. I was

able to stay positive and continue to learn as much as possible.

Next time I have an opportunity like this one, I will make sure I don’t get down on

myself so easily. While I feel I took advantage of the lessons and opportunities, I also feel as if I

spent too much time worrying about whether I was doing enough to warrant me being there. I

focused to much time trying to validate my ability to be there and contribute which probably

took away some of the lessons I could have learned or the information I could have obtained

instead.

A point that I would like to add that I felt was important was the life experience this

internship gave me. Not only the lessons and the motivational sayings thrown my way, but the

act of waking up early to go to a job where my actions made an impact. I stayed in a city away

from family to participate in this internship. I was able to experience new things and try out a

different lifestyle than what I am accustomed to. The lessons I gained where phenomenal, the

network I built was inspiring, but the life experience I gained was impactful. This internship
changed my way of thinking not only in the workplace but in my everyday life as well. I’m

happier knowing the future is bright for me, because of this internship. I feel more confidence in

my ability to succeed at a job with this company or any other company if need be. The life

experience helped me develop into a more well-rounded individual.

This internship was a once in a lifetime opportunity, that I am hoping to change into a

full-time job out of college. I had a very positive experience with my on-site supervisor and now

mentor, Genaro Cavazos. I am looking to find ways to support the company even after this

internship ends and I am back at school. With the constant lessons I was taught and management

guidance I was given, I see myself being a great leader for a company one day, maybe even my

own. There were moments of doubt during my internship and even days of confusion, but I put

my head down and continued to make this as great an experience as I could.

Genaro Cavazos was the most inspirational and positive leaders I have ever had the

privilege of working for. No boss or mentor I’ve had gave me the confidence or the ability to

make a real impact on a company the way he did, and I was simply an intern. My worries of

doing busy work and sitting at a desk bored all day were shot down multiple times due to his

constant willingness to teach me things firsthand. The number of meetings I was able to simply

sit in on and hear how the workplace communicated efficiently was life changing. He inspired

me almost every week to be a better me. He showed me how to be a leader and improve the work

of everyone around him through a solid work ethic of his own. I can honestly say I learned more

about the process of adulthood through this internship than college has ever taught me. Most

lessons I learned came from real experience and not out of a textbook. I am very happy I

completed this internship and chose this company to do it with. I’ll look back in a very positive

light on this summer and know that it was a reason I become successful in the future.