Hello everyone, my name is Phillip Leidner and I am a new intern for the Office of New Media at SUNY System Administration during the fall semester. I am a public policy major and a business administration minor at the University at Albany. I live off-campus but definitely do miss being in a clean campus dorm! This is my last semester attending the University at Albany; I will graduate in December.
I started my academic career at Nassau Community College in Long Island. After a year there, I transferred to the University at Albany and have been there ever since. My decision to start at Nassau was in hopes of transferring to a school to play basketball collegiality. After (quickly) realizing that was not in my cards, I chose the University at Albany for their prestige and well-known business program. After struggling to adapt to the new school environment and larger classes, I decided to make a change. Two years ago, I changed my major to public policy and am very glad I did so. I have learned far more than I could have hoped for, and throughout this internship I expect my knowledge to continue to grow.
When I am not busy doing schoolwork, I enjoy playing sports. Growing up, I played soccer, basketball, and baseball, all to which I still enjoy playing today. Usually on the weekends, I will head down to the Albany basketball courts and take part in a couple of pick-up games. My favorite sport teams are the New York Giants, the New York Mets (unfortunately), and the University of Connecticut Huskies Men’s College basketball team. On lazier days, I do enjoy watching TV and catching up on some of my favorite shows. A couple of my favorite TV shows are Seinfeld, The Office, and Game of Thrones.
I have quite a large family. Along with my 26 year old brother, and 28 year old sister, I have 25 cousins who I am very close with. Having a large family I think made me who I am. My personality is very laid back and I would like to think of myself as easy to talk to. I love having a sense of humor, and I think having that attribute makes things easier for me on a daily basis.
Coming into this internship, I have many expectations of myself. First, I will strive to contribute to the incoming flow of new ideas. I hope to gain plenty of experience within this field and if possible take it to the next level. Obviously this is a new experience for me and I hope to adapt very smoothly and quickly. So far everyone has been extremely nice and I can’t wait to get into the flow of things.
Usually people know what they want to become once they are out of college, but I do not. Over the course of my three years at the University at Albany, I have gained interest in many areas. Not only do I enjoy public policy, but I am very interested in business and will try to find a job that can mix and match them both. For now, I am taking things for what they are and am hoping to find special interest in a field that I can enjoy coming to work every day!