A gift from an alumnus gives wings to global dreams

For Caroline Potock ’11, the thought of going abroad had always seemed unfeasible. As a member of the varsity softball team, Potock is always in season; her days are consumed with practices, games and away tournaments.

But when Potock was selected to be a recipient of the Tauck Scholarship, the unfeasible became the possible. For the past 17 years, the scholarship has given three undergraduate students in the College of Business and Economics the chance to travel abroad for an international summer internship.

The Tauck Scholarship enabled Potock to work in Sydney, Australia, this past summer. Recently, she and two other 2010 scholars, Brian Weekes ’11 and Andi Howard ’11, shared their experiences with professors, Tauck alumni, prospective scholars and the program’s benefactor, Arthur Tauck ‘53, at the annual Tauck Scholars Luncheon.

Potock, a marketing major, held two internships in Sydney. At Altium, an electronic design company, she helped create a nurture campaign for new prospects by using Marketo, a program that automates the process of moving a lead into a sale.

A week in the office, and an outing on the ferry

When Potock arrived at Altium’s office, the company was restructuring its marketing department from a hierarchical structure into a talent pool. Potock was called upon to help facilitate the transition and to help plan and participate in a workshop for the marketing team.

Potock’s second internship was with Datarati, a consultant and reseller of the Marketo program. On her first day, she was responsible for managing the Datarati booth at the Australian Direct Marketers Association event.

After an intense workweek, Potock found solace in going down to the ferry dock.

“I would close my eyes and pick a ferry, and that’s where I’d go for the day,” she said with a laugh.

Potock called the summer a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“I didn’t want to come home,” she said.

Entrusted with responsibility from the start

Weekes traveled to Auckland, New Zealand, to work in the audit department of a public accounting firm, where, he said, he was treated like a first-year associate and he was given serious responsibilities.

“Instead of being a helping hand, I was given the sole responsibility of auditing [certain] clients,” Weekes said. “I was trusted to converse with them.”

Weekes said he gained invaluable skills. “With an increasingly globalized world, it’s so important to know how to work with people with a different background than you.”

After hours, Weekes found time to skydive, surf at the famous Piha Beach, go on a wine-tasting tour and attend rugby matches.

Howard, a marketing major, worked in Belgium for the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA), an organization that deals with self-regulatory advertising. EASA, which is comprised of voluntary advertising agencies, works to ensure that organizations operate ethically through producing truthful, honest and fair advertisements.

Howard was responsible for creating a questionnaire for EASA members that detailed how EASA worked with the European Parliament regulation regarding health and nutrition claims made in advertisements.  She also had to gather statistics about complaints made to the self-regulatory organizations about advertisements.  Howard analyzed these statistics to flag trends and to compare the data to the previous year.

Letters of gratitude, saved for a rainy day

It was daunting at first to be thrust into a different country and culture, particularly because it was her first trip outside the U.S. But Howard acclimated.

“I learned so much about myself,” she said. “I learned to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. My time in Belgium has become a part of who I am; it’s shaped me.”

Arthur Tauck said he never envisioned the scholarship program coming this far when he endowed it. In the past 17 years, 52 students have traveled and worked abroad thanks to Tauck.

Over the years, Tauck said, he has created a book filled with the letters of gratitude he’s received from Tauck Scholars.

“On a rainy, lonely day, I’ll take out the book to reread the letters and it makes me smile.”