My experience with this internship has been far richer than I could have possibly imagined. When I was interviewing it was clear that this internship was different, that it was special. Not too many internships have you interview with just about everyone on staff (when I was undergoing the interview process, I used to joke that there were probably a few janitors that I hadn’t met) and there are not many places that put you through an hour and a half personality test (which I failed, by the way) and the background check was so thorough that I actually learned things about myself. There are not many internships that make you jump through so many hoops; but this place is special. To me, this internship did not derive its value from the things that I have learned; but from the extraordinary experience I have had.

I do not mean to discount the things that I have learned. I came into this internship not knowing anything about insurance and now I feel as though I can have an insurance conversation with anyone and not come across as a complete imbecile (complete, of course, being the operative word). I have learned a lot about benefits and insurance; but the real value from this internship have been from the people who have gone out of their way to support and encourage me. I have felt like a real part of the Gallagher team and not just an intern. I experienced far more than I ever could have expected, and for that I am incredibly thankful.

- Evan

I had a fanciful image about what insurance brokers do. In my mind, which is an interesting place, I pictured insurance companies to be like impregnable fortresses with tiny business people knocking at the giant doors trying to get in. They could, of course, enter; provided they pay the hefty toll. Where does Gallagher fit into this image you might ask? Well, I don’t think that you have any business questing my mental images; but I will acquiesce and tell you; but only because you asked so nicely.

Gallagher is the knight in shining armor who helps the small townspeople battle the imperious forces of the insurance company. The townspeople are ill-equipped to stand up to the Aetnas or the Kaisers of the world. I won’t even mention the towering behemoth that is Blue Cross. How could they stand up to an underwriter? The underwriters, who I imagine wear long black cloaks and carry lanterns as they traverse the catacombs under the insurance buildings, would be able to make any kind of proposal they wanted if there were not knights to stand up against them. I thought that this was the role of a broker.

So, has the internship turned out the way I expected it to? Yeah, pretty much.

I don’t mean to suggest that Gallagher is living in the Middle Ages, as I am sure you have deduced, my knowledge of the pre-industrial world is somewhat stilted and shaped mostly by cartoons and trivia I have learned at Burger King. Gallagher is a great place to work and what they do here differs from day to day. The consultants (or knights, if you will) are constantly in motion and it is amazing to see how fast they have to change from working on one project to another. It seems as though there is always something going and there is always a way for us to help and contribute. It is a fast-paced and dynamic environment. – Evan

I really like that Tom Petty song Into The Great Wide Open. My affinity for the song extends beyond the fact that I am pretty much a rebel without a clue, and goes to the heart of the chorus, which easily gets stuck in my head. In the song, Tom keeps saying that “the future is wide open” and that “the sky was the limit.” This is pretty much the way I see the future, not because I have unbridled talent and opportunity; but because I have no idea what I want to do next week, let alone for a career. The future is wide open, mostly because I am completely indecisive and have no idea what I want to do; although I would like to be filthy rich.

My first dream job was being an astronaut. It seemed like a pretty good gig and I imagine I would accumulate lots of frequent flyer miles. I started to do some research and read a few books about astronauts and space travel. The Magic School Bus, by the way, is a fantastic resource. I soon found out that when astronauts come back to earth, they need to get antibiotic shots.  To me, this was unacceptable. I think I was about 7-years-old and shots were more terrifying than earthquakes, monsoons, and naptime all rolled together. Needless to say, my career as an astronaut was short lived.

My next career option was a little more down to earth; I wanted to be a geologist. I don’t know what exactly attracted me to geology, it might have been my fondness for eating dirt (but that also might have been because my mom was not a great cook). Dirt eating aside, for a long time I wanted to be a geologist. In fact, it was my job of choice all through elementary school. I have no idea why.

My next job, my middle school career choice, was acting. I guess I wanted to do something meaningful, you know, so I could really give back to my community. I started acting professionally when I was 11-years-old. This was back then I was young and cute; but I grew out of that phase and acting was no longer a viable option. This caused me to re-evaluate my career path in high school.

After taking AP biology, I decided that I wanted to be a doctor. It’s not so much that I wanted to help people or make their lives better; it’s really that I just wanted people to call me “doctor”. I don’t think I would necessarily be so arrogant as to make everyone call me doctor outside of work; but I would expect them to call me “Mr. Evan, MD”. I would have been a great doctor. Being a doctor was my career ambition throughout high school; but things changed once I got to college and had to register for classes. I went to the registrar and she told me that all of the pre-med classes were full and that I should just do GEs and take the pre-med classes next semester. I said nuts to that; I’ll be a liberal arts major and study philosophy, politics, economics and history. Basically, I choose to major in not getting a job.

My plan was to study history and get a job as a history professor. This was mostly because I feared that working in an office would be detrimental to my health, as I imagined myself melting under the florescent lighting. Working at Gallagher has taught me that I have thicker skin than I thought and that if I wear sunglasses at all times, my body is rather impermeable to the incessant bombardment of florescent lighting and recycled air that is characteristic of life in corporate America. Because of this internship, I feel really comfortable pursuing a career in the corporate environment. Do I think that my career will be in insurance, though? Yeah, I think it very well might be; but like Tom says, the sky is the limit. – Evan    

Today I made my triumphant return to the Huntington we were explaining the AD&D and voluntary life policies. It was my charge to help people figure out how much money would be taken from their paychecks in exchange for this elective service. In order to accomplish this goal, I needed to be able to do simple math; but this presents a significant problem: I am an economics major and I am therefore unable to perform advanced mathematical operations in my head. I required a calculator, which presents a problem in an office like Gallagher, where, apparently, everyone is some sort of mathematical genius and only requires an adding machine, which differs from a calculator in that it makes cool noises when you use it and that it must be plugged into a wall, for their computations (that or they just use excel). Scott M. was able to secure a sensible and sleek silver calculator from Scott T.. I was fortunate in that I was able to get a calculator from Jura. This calculator, from Dental Blue, was only slightly larger than a standard dorm refrigerator. For a point of comparison at the Huntington, I held it next to the Gutenberg Bible and found that it was, indeed, more massive and a much deeper shade of purple than the famed book. Unfortunately, this calculator was of little use because I did not need to add big numbers.  It was my great fortune that people seemed to be able to add the sums themselves. I merely sat on the sidelines and helped to explain the policies. It was fun to interact with the end user (which sounds somewhat morbid when talking about life insurance) and I gained a lot by listening to Scott M. present the material. He was relaxed and calm and made the presentation personal by telling good anecdotes. Listening to Scott made me realize that I might need to wait a few years before people take me seriously as a life insurance salesman.  – Evan

My 4th was awesome. I would not say it was as good as Beethoven’s 4^th (I am, of course, referring to the sequel to the 1992 film Beethoven and not the 1806 symphony; which in, my humble opinion, is highly overrated) but it was good. I saw the LA Galaxy play the New England Revolution, who took a few good turns. David Beckham scored his fifth goal of the season, which is great, if you discount the fact that Adam Cristman scored his 9^th and 10^th goals of the season.  Even though the Galaxy lost, it was still an exciting game I watched it with good company. I don’t mean to suggest that the person I went with was necessarily good company (he is from New England) but the 27,000 Galaxy fans were great. It was, in fact, the largest number of fans to attend a Major League Soccer game in the illustrious history of American soccer (which dates back to sometime last week).

Naturally, after the game ended, there were sparks flying between the Galaxy Fans and the Revolution fans.  It was quite the fireworks show. They played enough patriotic music to make me want to leave my cushy job here at Gallagher and go join the Marines. I, of course, did not because of my contractual obligations to remain in my internship until August 8^th; but J.P. Sousa almost had me speaking to my local recruiter.  He is a crafty one, that Sousa.  All and all, I had a great 4^th of July and I am glad to be in America partaking in a great American pastime: listening to people complain that soccer is not called football.

-E

Ps. Wasn’t the Revolution Prince’s backup band? What kind of silly soccer team supports musical sensations from the 1980’s?  

Once upon a time there was an intern called Evan. Evan was afraid that his internship would require him to toil for hours doing useless and futile paperwork, but he was ever so wrong. He did not know what an internship at Gallagher would be like. He did not know he would be spending his days working with fantastic people and doing meaningful and interesting work.

One day, Evan found himself frolicking in the Huntington Library’s gardens amongst the paintings and Guttenberg Bible. It was quite a sight to be seen. His job was to sit at the VSP table and explain the vision plan to employees. It was great fun. He helped people understand the plan and what it could do for them. Everyone could see the value in his work.

But then, there was trouble. The representative from Aetna had to give a presentation and the nice lady from Gallagher told the Aetna representative, who was ever so worried about leaving her booth unmanned, that Evan could mind her table while she was away. The man from Gallagher’s retirement program took over the VSP table and Evan uncomfortably sat at the Aetna table trembling with fear and worrying that someone would ask him a question. Sure enough, a man enquired unto Evan about the three plans offered by Aetna.

“I am on the Aetna HMO plan,” the man said, “but do you think it is right for me?”

Evan swallowed hard and, with all the courage he could muster, asked the man to tell him about his family and his needs. Evan explained the merits of the Aetha HMO plan verses the POS plan and even talked about the elusive and confusing Consumer Driven Health Care plan. The man thanked Evan for his help and said that now he knew he was on the right plan for him and his family. The peasants rejoiced; but then Evan realized that he had called the POS plan a PPO plan the whole time. The peasants, however, did not care and still rejoiced.

Now Evan is going to return to the Huntington Library next week to give a presentation about voluntary AD&D insurance and is very excited.