5 ‘How-To’s I Learned During My ARCO/Murray Internship

INTERN BLOG BY DANE MARVIN – Hi, my name is Dane Marvin and I just recently graduated from Michigan Tech with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and I will be going back for an accelerated master’s program in the fall. So far, my career path has been all over the place. I started with landscaping and residential construction, moved to work as an engineering intern in a steel mill, then found myself here at ARCO as a project management intern. What drew me to ARCO was one of their raving fans. Through them, I learned about ARCO, who they are, what they do, and decided that I wanted to be a part of it.

Throughout my internship I have learned many things, all of which I will keep with me for the rest of my life. It’s hard to pick a few, but I’ll share a few of my favorites.

How to Be Confident

It sounds simple, but it has been a challenge. Occasionally, my mentor will challenge me on a topic and often causes me to second guess myself. Despite doing my due diligence and knowing the answer, I have often found myself doubting my answers. From this, I have learned to prepare myself and to be confident in what I know.

How to Ask Good Questions

Thanks to my mentor I was able to figure out when and how to ask questions. I learned that quality over quantity is important, as a few well-prepared questions can achieve much more than 10 surface level ones.

How to Communicate

This one was difficult and awkward. It took me a lot of time and many botched voicemails to learn how to approach phone calls with subcontractors. This was one of those lessons where I had to throw myself against a brick wall a thousand times until I broke through. Each call got a little bit better until it started to feel natural.

How to Acquire Information

Throughout the intern capstone program, takeoffs and various projects I have done, I learned how to find the information I was looking for and how to utilize it in an efficient manner. Like all other lessons learned, it took time and effort to get to a point where I can quickly find what I am looking for.

How to Manage Time

This lesson is one that will never end. As responsibilities grow, we need to be able to adapt to these changes. I have learned that there will be times to have fun with your co-workers, and that there will be times when you need to put your head down and work harder than ever. I believe that this is one that I will always be improving upon, be it in my personal or professional life.

Overall, this internship has taught me many important skills that I use for navigating my personal and professional lives.

Interested in learning more about internship and co-op opportunities offered at ARCO/Murray? Check out our programs page by clicking here.