Hi, my name is Dakota Astle. I was born and raised in Anchorage and graduated from AJ Dimond High School in 2017. After graduating, I attended my first year of college at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. After my first year of college, I missed the mountains and Alaska so decided to return home to study finance at the University of Alaska Anchorage. At the end of my sophomore year, I wanted to experience the world from a new perspective, so I applied to the only floating college campus in existence: Semester at Sea. In the Fall of 2019, I embarked on a life-changing adventure. I studied aboard the MV World Odyssey, a ship traveling from the Netherlands to Poland, Portugal, Spain, Croatia, Morocco, Ghana, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. The semester was truly an educational experience of a lifetime.
I discovered the summer internship opening at APCM while searching internship opportunities on the slow and limited Wi-Fi on a ship in the middle of the Northern Atlantic. This internship was exactly what I was looking for, so I applied and was excited to be offered the position. Then the global pandemic emerged and as the whole world seemed to be on pause the internship was in limbo. However, the team at APCM did not waiver and started my internship on time! I was so thrilled and thankful to still have the opportunity to learn and work with the team at APCM.
I am currently working from home and am thankful for all the patience, time, and assistance I am receiving to be as successful as I can during this odd time in history. This pandemic has allowed me to learn even more about the ways in which global events of this magnitude can affect the market, commodities, and individuals’ financial plans and portfolios. I have been working primarily with private wealth management team. Though it has been an unconventional environment, the APCM team has been there to provide training, answer questions, and provide me with valuable feedback to help make the most of my internship experience. In the short time that I have worked for APCM, I have begun to learn much about personal finance, such as asset allocation, social security strategies, retirement planning, and investment management. As I continue my path in the field of finance and expand my knowledge, I know my future endeavors in finance will only be strengthened by the experiences I will have this summer at APCM.
Dakota Astle
Summer Intern
6/12/2020
