By Alexandria Dixon '19
After competing with hundreds of applicants and after several interviews, I was offered to join the SAP iXp program. I was excited to accept the offer of DoD Implementation Specialist for the summer of 2018 with SAP Concur. During the internship, I had hands on experience by working with their Global Services and Service Delivery team to minimize risks and contribute to action tracking. In addition, as a project manager, I produced detailed reports and reviewed project documentation. I felt confident that I would do well in this position because of the great critical thinking, communication, and time management skills that I was taught throughout my time at Ferrum College.
The beginning of my internship started with an awesome adventure full of traveling and meeting people from different parts of the world. SAP flew all the interns in the United States (approximately 300 total) to an intern summit event in San Francisco! At the summit, we attended guest speakers (topics such as self-branding, diversity and inclusion, the future of technology, exploring unexplored opportunities, time management, and the importance of networking), social events, and team building exercises. During some down time, I was able to see the Golden Gate Bridge and other monumental places. On another fun note, I won a Starbucks gift card for the best social media presence of the whole summit (if you are on Twitter, this hashtag: #myixpstory, is where you will find all the tweets from the event if you want to find out more about the iXp experience. If interested in my personal experience, my Twitter handle is @alex22dixon).
I was excited to begin working with SAP Concur to assist them in acquiring the United States Department of Defense (DoD) as a customer for SAP Concur travel and expense. Throughout SAP, employees are encouraged to stay healthy mentally and physically. I took advantage of the opportunity to improve my health by going to the Vienna office’s company gym every morning before work and walking at least one mile with fellow co-workers. In addition, I attended an employee experience presentation on happiness and learned how to make small changes to improve my overall happiness. At SAP, they believe that when employees are at their best, the company is at its best (I strongly support this belief).
During the ten-week program, I attended customer meetings, presented research findings on various topics, created over twenty-one templates, and designed the project portal for both parties to collaborate on. To accomplish all of these tasks, I worked with different team members in several departments all over the globe within SAP Concur. I enjoy working somewhere that treats interns like equal employees and values their input. I believe that the work I did will make a difference and that it has helped me to gain skills to add to my personal "toolbox". After many work-filled days, the week usually ended with a social event. A few of the events included a National's baseball game, an Escape Room activity, and a Top Golf celebratory activity. We were able to relax, have some fun, and get to bond with fellow employees.
During the 9th week of this internship, all interns are required to compete and present in a Final Presentation for judges, teammates, mentors, and managers. I am deeply honored to represent a win for the Global Services department in the Vienna office. I really value all of the times that Ferrum classes allowed me to practice presenting; in particular, my Voice and Diction course allowed me to improve on my speech and taught me how to vocalize my thoughts. I think that was a huge advantage that helped me to do so well in the competition. In addition, I was comfortable with memorizing a script, presenting to judges, and being confident in what I was saying because of all the times, I had done that in the past to prepare for an Enactus competition. I feel incredibly thankful to have the Enactus program at our school and to all the professors that give students the opportunity to present in their classrooms.
I found throughout the ten weeks that I was using many skills that I had been taught in various courses at Ferrum College. For example, I was able to hear solutions to problems and deduct whether their solutions were offering a valid and sound argument. I was able to add this value because of the methods that I was taught in my philosophy courses (The Human Condition, Ethics, and Metaphysics). Next, I was able to relay my thoughts in a clear and effective manner because I was taught how to write a constructive and organized report while I was taking Business Communications, English Composition and Research, and Business Finance.
The ten weeks that I spent in northern Virginia being a part of the SAP iXp program, went by very fast but are something I will never forget. I take away the skills of knowing how to work with different tools, how to proactively collaborate in a business environment, and how to evaluate my work in a critical and productive way. (In addition, I found a new passion for learning about a project management method called Agile.)
During the tenth week of the iXp program, I was offered to extend my position as a DoD Implementation Specialist with SAP Concur until the end of December as a remote part-time employee. I have accepted this incredible offer and will be working ten hours a week during my senior year while continuing to compete for Ferrum tennis, tutor for several classes, and strive to continue to stay on the dean’s list. This shall be a fun and exciting year!
I look forward to continuing my efforts with SAP Concur and for completing a Bachelor’s of Science degree with a Business Administration major including concentrations in Management and Finance with a minor in Philosophy from Ferrum College.
During the 9th week of this internship, all interns are required to compete and present in a Final Presentation for judges, teammates, mentors, and managers. I am deeply honored to represent a win for the Global Services department in the Vienna office. I really value all of the times that Ferrum classes allowed me to practice presenting; in particular, my Voice and Diction course allowed me to improve on my speech and taught me how to vocalize my thoughts. I think that was a huge advantage that helped me to do so well in the competition. In addition, I was comfortable with memorizing a script, presenting to judges, and being confident in what I was saying because of all the times, I had done that in the past to prepare for an Enactus competition. I feel incredibly thankful to have the Enactus program at our school and to all the professors that give students the opportunity to present in their classrooms. 
I found throughout the ten weeks that I was using many skills that I had been taught in various courses at Ferrum College. For example, I was able to hear solutions to problems and deduct whether their solutions were offering a valid and sound argument. I was able to add this value because of the methods that I was taught in my philosophy courses (The Human Condition, Ethics, and Metaphysics). Next, I was able to relay my thoughts in a clear and effective manner because I was taught how to write a constructive and organized report while I was taking Business Communications, English Composition and Research, and Business Finance.
The ten weeks that I spent in northern Virginia being a part of the SAP iXp program, went by very fast but are something I will never forget. I take away the skills of knowing how to work with different tools, how to proactively collaborate in a business environment, and how to evaluate my work in a critical and productive way. (In addition, I found a new passion for learning about a project management method called Agile.)
During the tenth week of the iXp program, I was offered to extend my position as a DoD Implementation Specialist with SAP Concur until the end of December as a remote part-time employee. I have accepted this incredible offer and will be working ten hours a week during my senior year while continuing to compete for Ferrum tennis, tutor for several classes, and strive to continue to stay on the dean’s list. This shall be a fun and exciting year!
I look forward to continuing my efforts with SAP Concur and for completing a Bachelor’s of Science degree with a Business Administration major including concentrations in Management and Finance with a minor in Philosophy from Ferrum College.
Activities & Honors
- Dean’s List since Freshman Year (2015-2017)
- Sophomore of the Year (2016-2017)
- Captain of Admissions Ambassadors
- Captain of Women’s Tennis Team
- President of Enactus Academic Team
- PAL Tutor for two courses (THA222 Voice and Diction and PHI211 Ethics)
