A Summer Internship Story

Another summer in the books and another amazing group of interns that we have had the pleasure of mentoring. As a team at FirstPointe Advisors, we have had 5 summers of interns. Each person, and group has been amazing in and of themselves, and each one has been special and unique. This most recent group of 3 amazing young men was no different this summer. Chris Crawford, James Moore and Matheus De Matos are all smart, hardworking and dedicated young men. Each brought their own unique personality, perspective and skill set to the table this summer. Moreover, they all bonded together! They were a tight knit group that built a strong relationship with each other from day one.

We have historically only recruited from FSU because, well, let’s be honest, it is THE BEST Real Estate Program in the State of Florida (Go Noles!!). All joking aside, we know the program, the professors, the administrators, and the students so we have a good idea what kind of individual we are hiring from FSU. This summer, we stepped out of our comfort zone and brought in a Georgia Bulldog (also a full-time UGA grad named Whitney Ponsell…hey Whit!). We could not have been happier with our decision to venture up to Athens to the Terry College of Business and snag James Moore out of the Real Estate program. James was a shining example of the caliber of student that UGA has in their ranks. His positive attitude and willingness to take on new challenges will propel James forward as he finishes his studies and enters the professional world.

Our summer was filled with learning, networking, and team building. We attended numerous industry networking events with our interns to give them a taste of what professional networking looked like. We even enjoyed a group outing at a Miami Marlins game. Our youngest ever intern, Chris Crawford consistently overindulged in ice water at these events! Though just 19 years old, Chris showed an incredible drive and work ethic during the summer and better yet, he showed incredible growth in his knowledge of real estate as the summer rolled on. Chris is going to have a fantastic year back on campus at Florida State University where he will continue his journey through the Real Estate major in the College of Business. Big things coming for this young man.

Perhaps the most inquisitive young man of the group, and maybe that I have ever met, was Matheus De Matos. Matheus put our analytical minds to the test. Have you ever met someone that takes things apart so that they can see what is inside and how it works only to put it right back together to play with it some more? Metaphorically speaking, I have a feeling this is what Matheus did as a kid. His desire to understand the why behind every assumption, direction and assignment was unparalleled. Being an analytical person myself, I have a strong appreciation for this type of mentality. Not only analytical, Matheus was a hard worker. More often than not, he was the first of the group in the office and the last one to leave. There’s something special about him; you can just feel it. One more year at FSU and then he’s off to put those analytical skills to the test in the real estate industry.

Capping off the summer internship program were our Mock Appeal Hearings. Each intern, and our new analysts were assigned a property that they were to take from inception to hearing. Brian and I swapped the roles of Special Magistrate and Property Appraiser and challenged our interns to present their analysis in support of their value opinion. We didn’t take it easy on them either. They had to prove that they took our guidance and training seriously and prepared for their presentations. Let me tell you, they did not disappoint. Each of the cases had their strong points and weak points, but they showed just how much they cared in these hearings. The cases were well prepared and very well presented. Each of them showed us their own unique ability and the way they think and analyze the data. We were thoroughly impressed.

Though we are sad that the summer has come to an end, and we must see these fine young men go back to school, we’re thrilled to see them continue their educational journeys. We don’t know exactly what the future holds, but what we do know is that these 3 young men will make waves. Big ones.