Daily life in the Bellevue office is very different from how we expected it. Everyone is far more laid back then we expected them to be yet are very good at buckling down when they need to. It really shows when the sales figures come out. Daily life really gets going at around 8:15. We check our email, return messages and look at our calender for the day. Depending on which department we are in we check in with oursupervisor for that day and see if they have anyting for us to do. Then we go to starbucks literally every day. Its in another building which blows but it is a daily necessity. Then we come back and do whatever tasks have been assigned to us that day while usually constantly working on the vegas sales conference. We pretty much do that everyday with different odd jobs in between. We have also been working on a presentation we have to do for all the managers at the end of the internship.

Ashley and I pretty much do the same thing so this is a joint blog*

Alex

I have friends who know exactly what they want to do when they get out of college and have known since they got therebut I am definitely not like them. I still haven’t decided whether or not I want to go to graduate school or whether or not I want to go to Law school or if I want to postpone both and just work for awhile. What I do know however is that I want a job that makes me excited to go to work everyday, one in which I get to interact with all sorts of different kinds of people and get to do a variety of things. I do not want to get stuck in some monotonous job that is boring and unfulfilling. After participating in this internship I have realized that there are so many different aspects to each company. I used to think insurance was really boring but there are so many different departments that can be interesting. I never knew that an insurance company has such a use for a marketing department and that marketing can be so diverse. All in all I think this internship has given me better insight into the business world and only makes me curious about different jobs out there. I feel as though I have time though to still see what else is out there before I make a final decision.

-Ashley

For our weekend family and I went to our cabin at Priest Lake in Idaho. We have had our cabin since my sister and I were in 6th grade and have spent almost every indepence day there possible. The first year we were there we wanted to be cautious about our neighbors so we went to a local grocery store parking lot to buy “safe and sane” fireworks. This was all in vain however when we realized that our neighbors did not have the same idea. Here we were, setting fireworks off on our dock which were so small even we could barely see them while our neighbors were lighting off fireworks from the Indian Reservation that were so big and so bright that you could see them from across the lake. We would not repeat this mistake again…

This year was no exception. After 6 years of firework training we have perfected our approach and have the best show in our bay. We send my cousin out into the water (wearing a life jacket of course) pulling a black intertube with a wooden platform covered with massive fireworks. My cousin then swims to the middle of the bay and lights them off so it seems as if the fireworks come straight out of the water. We (the supportive beachers) then light of backpacks of roman candles. I would have to say this year was the best firework show yet!

- Ashley

So far this week we have been busy planning the Las Vegas Sales conference that is coming up in September. This has been a lot of fun and very interesting because we get to interact with a wide variety of people and we get to help coordinate a very large event. Along with the event planning we have been attending multiple seminars, webcasts and lectures about different aspects of the business. We have been learning in depth about COBRA, the differences and significance of insurance certificates versus contracts and about our upcoming transition to BenefitPoint. All in all the week has been very informative and I feel like I am grasping the ins and outs of the business very well.

- Ashley

Last week was a great learning experience to help us launch into our summer as a Gallagher Intern. I went into the week with some knowledge of benefits but left with an even greater understanding of the details and specifics. It was a very good chance to meet other interns from all over the country and meet all different sorts of people. I have never really spent time in the midwest or the east coast so it was good to meet people from there and learn about the differences from coast to coast. Overall the internship orientation was a good tool to learn about the insurance industry, meet and network with other interns as well as to visit a new place. It was a very beneficial experience and something I would definitely do again if given the chance.

- Ashley