In mid-November of last year, one of my professors at the University of Alaska Southeast offered me the opportunity to attend the AGFOA conference in Anchorage. Being in my senior year, I decided it would be great opportunity for me to network with professionals around Alaska, as well as get a feel for real life accounting and finance outside of the textbook. For most of my degree program, I was working full-time managing a coffee shop in Kodiak, while taking 6-12 credits a semester at UAS; UAS offers multiple bachelor’s degree programs that are completely online. I chose to take the business administration route with an emphasis in accounting. For my senior year I decided to purely focus on my career and education, take 18 credits, leave my job in Kodiak, and move back to my rent-free family home. I loved living in Kodiak and will forever be grateful for the skills, knowledge, and friends I gained from my time there. It is a beautiful place, and many career opportunities do exist there due to the lucrative fishing industry, but it being a remote island I felt that change was necessary for me to further grow.
The AGFOA conference ended up being an amazing opportunity. It gave me insight on the career opportunities available around Alaska, educated me on Alaska’s current economic state, and gave me the chance to network with professionals from all around the Alaska. Alaska Permanent Capital Management was a Gold Sponsor and a presenter for the 2017 fall conference. The men and women who represent APCM are an impressive group. Bill and Brandy presented at the conference, it was informative and compelling. That evening there was reception at the Anchorage museum for the conference attendees. It was at this gathering that I had the opportunity to speak with Amber, Blake, and Laura from APCM and how I learned about their internship program. The APCM internship immediately intrigued me after speaking one-on-one with staff members about fiduciary’s and the industry. I cleaned up my resume, sent off my application, and now two months later here I am! I am so appreciative to have been given the opportunity to intern at APCM. The team here at APCM is a talented group of individuals that I am privileged to learn from.
My name is Jasmine Gilpin, I was born and raised in the Valley and now I am back home to finish my Senior year at the University of Alaska Southeast. When I am not busy with work or school, you will find me outdoors, enjoying all the activities Alaska has to offer. I am ecstatic to graduate in May and soon after join the workforce full-time. I chose to pursue a bachelor’s in business administration with an emphasis in accounting because of the diverse selection of careers I could choose from with it. I have not yet chosen a specific field or industry that I want to pursue when I graduate, but this internship is leaning my interests toward finance and investment. I have enjoyed my educational experience and plan on furthering it, by tackling an MBA in the next five years. I am excited to have the opportunity to intern for APCM in my final semester. They are a competent, knowledgeable, and motivating team of individuals that I have the advantage of learning on the job skills from.
Jasmine Gilpin
Spring 2018 Intern
1/24/18
