Intern Spotlight – Nicolas Orvoine-Couvrette (Spring 2015)

Nicolas Orvoine-­Couvrette is a fourth­-year International Affairs major and Economics minor. His goal to someday work in an embassy in Iberia or Latin America post­graduation has helped shape his studies here at Tech around these two regions. Nicolas spent the past summer interning for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in Public Affairs, specifically the Community Relations department. His future plans include continuing to work for the Federal Reserve Bank part­time in conjunction with his studies during the Fall semester. In 2012 Nicolas participated in Dr. Bowman’s study abroad program, during which he was able to achieve a greater appreciation for the history and culture of Portugal and Spain. And also see some great soccer stadiums!

Nicolas Orvoine-Couvrette Profile Picture
What do/did you enjoy most about your internship and what do/did you find most challenging?

I think that the aspects of the internship that I enjoy the most are the variety of work that I receive and the different people that I get to work with. During the summer I wrote articles for the Bank’s internal site, developed webpages for Community Relations, planned volunteer events for Bank employees, and worked on many other projects. This variety meant that tasks never got repetitive and that I was always learning something new. Not only were the projects fun to work on, but perhaps more importantly, the employees were great as well. Everyone was always very nice and willing to help you if you had any questions. I worked with people from every department and all walks of life, which enabled me to learn about the different purpose of each department and how they all come together to make the Fed the organization that it is.

Tell us about an experience that made an impression on you during your internship.

The intern volunteer event was probably my favorite experience of the summer. I was in charge of planning the event, which really made me realize all of the work that goes into planning even a relatively small event. We were able to help out a great cause and all of the interns got to hang out. Another event that made an impression on me was the day that we got to have breakfast with the President and First Vice President. The President of the Atlanta Fed, Dennis Lockhart, has always been very interested in international relations and has actually taught at Georgetown and SAIS. As an INTA student, it was great to hear this and I’m still trying to get some one­on­one time with him to hear his views on global issues.

In what ways did your time at Tech prepare you for the internship?

The workload was definitely more manageable because of my time at Tech. Classes and activities here have forced all of us to better manage our time so that we can do everything we want to do and also get good grades. I also came in with a solid background in economics thanks to Tech, which helped me understand general issues facing the Fed and the ways in which they could possibly deal with these dilemmas.

What are your plans after graduating?

I am still pretty unsure as to my immediate career plans after college, but I do definitely know that I want to travel to some place I’ve never been after I graduate. Maybe Brazil or Chile, or Thailand. Still trying to decide that.

Related posts