Bailee Warsing was an intern of the inaugural Ameren Accelerator 2017 program and you can read more about her experience in this post.
Bailee, could you tell us a little bit about you?
I am a sophomore and my major is in computer science. I am also part of the Honors College, I serve as the Vice President of the Environmental Adventure Organization and previously I was part of the Emerging Leaders Program.
How did you hear from the Ameren Accelerator Internship?
UMSL Accelerate had a table at an Honors College event and Ala Al-Lozi told me about this opportunity and I found it exciting so I applied.
Why were you interested?
It seemed likely that the work would be related to my major and it was a paid internship. I was also interested in startups in the first place and I especially liked the environmental aspect of the program. It is great to see Ameren investing in forward-thinking initiatives like this because I consider them as a potential employer as a computer science major.
The Ameren Accelerator Internship Program is interdisciplinary so it had a good mix of people and being part of an accelerator program is different from traditional internships. Working with startups is really rewarding because you have more influence on the company unlike in a larger organization.
What did you think about the application and selection process?
I think the application package had reasonable requirements – resume, application form and reference letter. The interview was not traditional because I had to start with a “pitch” followed by a Q&A session which was a different experience.
Please tell us more about your experience with the program.
We received an onboarding packet prior to the launch which was useful, it had a lot of information about expectations, the structure of the program and so on.
My main assignment was the website overhaul for Rebate Bus. It included building text and visual content, contact page, description of services, creating page designs etc. I got assigned several smaller tasks as well but this overarching project was the highlight of my contribution.
We, the interns, had weekly meetings with Ala and Tamas which I liked because I learned more about what the others are doing and it created some sort of comradery.
What happened since the program ended?
I got hired by Rebate Bus for a part time – 15-20 hours a week – paid position. My job is to work on an application that generates rebate data for clients in a user-friendly format. The whole team is easy to work with and they accommodate my demanding academic schedule. It has been a transformational experience and I can only encourage other students to apply for the next program.