Hello! My name is Jillian Morris, and I’m currently a junior Communication Studies major at Chapman University. Despite the year 2020 coming with many unexpected twists and turns, I can proudly say I’ve found a great amount of direction when it comes to my career. After adding my two minors in English and Japanese, I wanted to pursue an internship that incorporated everything I’ve been learning in a real-world corporate setting. My marketing and copywriting internship at The Pacific Bridge Companies (TPBC) was exactly what I was looking for.

Located in Monrovia, California as well as Hawaii, TPBC focuses on helping its financial advisors and their clients find the best solutions to managing their wealth wherever their lives may lead. Specifically, TPBC focuses on Asian and Asian-American clients. By helping businesses and individuals in Asia, as well as first-generation immigrants and their families in the U.S., they provide a ‘bridge’ between nations when it comes to insurance, annuities, or other wealth management products. The company currently has a large Japanese department, as well as upcoming Chinese and Korean divisions.

What first attracted me to this company was its global approach to finance. As someone who has grown up in an ethnically and culturally mixed environment, I know how important intercultural communication can be in many scenarios, not to mention global business where large amounts of money can be at stake. My brother, who had been working at TPBC for about a year, first introduced me to the company during the summer when we were discussing how I’d been learning Japanese for a few years. Since the company often deals with Japanese-speaking clients, I thought that this would be a great opportunity to be immersed in a bilingual corporate environment – something not many people get to experience. Soon after I heard about their internship opportunities, I connected with a recruiter and became a part of the team within a month.

My first day at TPBC – I was at the office in-person about 50 percent of the time, and the other 50 was on Zoom or Microsoft Teams!

The opportunity could not have come at a better time. I’m a Communication major and nowhere in my academic career have I studied finances, so at first it was a little bit tough to learn the corporate language. Much of my previous experience in writing had been outside of a business context, so writing in a corporate tone was almost completely new to me. However, I slowly started to get used to it. Throughout the four-and-a-half month process, I explored this new realm by interacting and working with experienced professionals in the world of global finance. Some of my main projects and duties as a marketing intern included creating and drafting content for an internal-use website, writing and editing articles for the company’s monthly newsletter, and dealing with other small projects like recruiting events, planning graphic design, and more.

Many of my tasks forced me to learn the ins and outs of the company, and I often had to do this individually by reaching out to and interviewing employees about their departments and expertise. What I liked most about the internship experience was that I couldn’t classify it as just one thing; it was a huge variety of learning opportunities. Whatever expectations I had before the internship became irrelevant because I ended up doing and learning much more than I ever thought I would. From exploring Microsoft SharePoint as a content-sharing platform, to learning how to write and publish a press release, I got the full experience of an internship and so much more.

Balancing school, extra curriculars, and an internship isn’t easy, especially during a global pandemic. However, it is much more doable than it sounds, and the opportunities for growth make it all worth it. To any student looking for an internship but not knowing where to start, make sure you have an open mind. Opportunities can come in the form of anything; for me, it was a simple conversation with my sibling. Oftentimes you won’t know what you’re getting into until you get there; when I first started interning, I had no idea my growth would be this profound.

Our team’s virtual thank-you card for Boss Appreciation Day.