Arisa Kawano '22

Tell us about your internship experience.

I was in the corporate banking division—global banking, to be precise. The division is in charge of giving out loans to companies. My division will help make the loan for the companies and make sure they will have money to do what they need to do. 

I translate documents to make communication easier between the bankers in Japan and the States. 

There’s something called the ESG—Environmental, Social, and Governance—and it's about being conscious of those things. There are loans out there now that Bank of America will give at a discounted rate if the company follows the ESG protocols. I might look at what kind of ESG, [corporate social responsibility]-related things the client company has done so far and the types of loans they might be interested in. I’d also use Excel to be able to compare all of our client companies easily or prepare PowerPoint presentations to share research. 

The internship is 10 weeks, and for the last three weeks, I was just preparing the final presentation. I got to choose whatever I wanted as the topic and so I chose artificial intelligence in the industry, the effect it will have on society, and the opportunities it could bring to Bank of America—especially in Japan. I researched, made a PowerPoint presentation on it, and presented it to all the APAC (Asian-Pacific)—the Asian region managers and interns, and all the people in the Tokyo office. 

Do you know yet what you'd like to do after Knox? Do you think this internship is helping with your career plans? If yes, how?

I had an image of finance being strict and demanding, which I think is true—especially depending on the division you’re in. But my division had a good work-life balance compared to other finance divisions. I thought it was really interesting that if you’re in a huge bank, there are so many different kinds of jobs in finance and divisions that I didn't even know existed. That's interesting; it doesn’t have to be corporate banking, but I’d want to work in the finance department in general.

If I get a full-time offer, I definitely will work there [Bank of America] because I like the employees—they were very nice and helpful. I thought it was a really good fit.

What are some main takeaways from your experience?

Ask questions. That’s big. At first, I didn’t want to bother people because I thought they are important people doing important things, and I am a college student, so I didn’t want to annoy them with my questions. But I found out that whenever I had a question, they were very encouraging about it, and I learned a lot more by asking. 

How did Knox prepare you for this opportunity?

At Knox, you’ll learn about the foundation for your internship because there’s a foundational course that you have to have, and those really make sure that even if you are a finance major, you know a little bit about the news and society. It might help you even in finance because you'll know what's going on. 

Why did you choose Knox?

The professors are really great, especially in terms of how much they are willing to help you. That’s what everyone says, but it's really true. I could really feel that during the pandemic. I was taking classes from Japan, so there was a time difference, but even then, the teachers were super accommodating. One example is Katie Stewart, my international relations professor. During the fall semester, I couldn't attend the live sessions, and her classes are very discussion-oriented. A YouTube recording of the class was not going to cut it, so instead, she would actually call me once or twice a week, and for an hour—just for me—she would go over the class material and ask for my ideas so I could get participation points for the class. 

Carol Scotton, my labor economics professor, also did this for me, as well as a couple of other students, every week for 1.5 hours per call. 

That just goes to show how much Knox professors actually care about the students and how passionate they are about the subjects they are teaching.

On-campus, Arisa is involved as a Red Room writing tutor, with UNICEF, and is also an Alumni Ambassador.