A trip to Ireland helped Clay McKown decide to stay in central Florida.
During his senior year at USF Polytechnic, McKown received an internship in Dublin, Ireland, with U.S. Foreign Commercial Service. For two months he served as liaison for American-held companies wanting to do business in Ireland.
"It was a fantastic opportunity to meet with executives and see what goes into planning to start a business overseas," he says.
Other responsibilities included preparing a research report on renewable energy for the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.
McKown says his classes at USFP went a long way in preparing him for the internship.
"Dr. Selsky's Strategic Management and Decision Making class was especially helpful. Using case studies we would look at a business and ask, ‘What is their business model? What plan have they developed?' I ended up doing a lot of that same analysis in Ireland."
McKown found the internship experience helped make him a more attractive candidate later when he looked to start his career. While still a student, he landed a position at Allen and Company in Lakeland as an assistant to a financial planner.
"That allowed me to learn the business while studying for a securities license," he says. "I graduated and hit the ground running."
According to McKown, however, the internship provided an even bigger benefit: "I'm from Avon Park, Florida, and this trip to Ireland was my first time away from home. It opened me to different cultures. I learned street smarts and experienced big city life. Best of all, it helped me figure out what I wanted to do. Did I want to stay in Dublin? Move to New York? Ultimately I decided to return to central Florida. It was a great way to find myself. That was the biggest thing I got out of it. That was huge."