Minnesota Bound!

That's right, I accepted an internship with Case New Holand in Benson Minnesota as an Industrial Engineer!  If you step through some of my recent blog posts you can see a bits of the journey that I was taken on through this, but I thought I would walk through the journey.

After much time applying for jobs, sending out resumes and emails to recruiters, two options came to the table.  One would be with CNH, which would put me in Benson, MN.  The other was Winamac Coil Spring in Winamac, IN.  The two opportunities were vastly different in scope and responsibility, as well as long term options.

With Case, the hope would be that I would do an internship, then if everything went well they would hire me on full-time upon graduation.  This option was really appealing, as I am graduating after one more semester.  Having an open door would be fantastic.  CNH is an enormous company that most have heard of, and the opportunity to be trained by professional IE's would be very helpful.  I could learn in a safe environment, and have great connections that would set me up for either a career with them, or experience valuable to other companies as well.

WCS on the other hand is a small spring company owned by the family some brothers from church.  They are looking to implement 'lean' (manufacturing philosophy minimizing waste/space/material etc.) into their plant.  They would be looking for someone with a background in lean manufacturing (which I kind-of have) to help them with the project.  I would be jumping with two feet into the fire, stretching myself to the limit and either sink or swim.  The thought of challenging myself on this level was very appealing, and I was sure I could do it.  Stressful, maybe. Rewarding, definitely.  Fantastic Resume builder, oh yeah.  At WCS I would be close to home, able to take classes at Purdue, and able to work with brothers. They did not, however, have any promise of work after the summer.  Maybe, but no guarantees.

I also considered the spiritual impact.  I feel like Minnesota would be more of a mission, as I would be called to represent Christ in a foreign land, live on my own and live Christ out without as many security features.  I would have the opportunity to interact with a new church and new social groups.  Winamac would be a very encouraging time, where I would be working closely with brothers that I really respect and have learned a lot from.

So with these options, I was able to sufficiently stress myself out. Both had different merits on many different levels and neither seemed better than the other. I went back and forth many times, but was leaning towards WCS as of Thursday (I had to decide on Monday).  I knew I should pray about it and wait, but I just wanted to make a decision and be done with it.  I decided to wait until Monday until making a decision.  I called the brother I knew from Winamac, and we discussed for a long time the different opportunities.  He was amazing in helping me sort through a lot of thoughts and factors invoved.  Towards the end of our conversation he made the comment:  'Well it seems that you have thought through both options, and they are both great opportunities, now you just need to look to God to see what He is telling you to do.'  Indeed.  I was praying a lot through this whole thing, which I think is why I didn't have a peace about my decision yet. 

As we talked on the phone, the idea of Case became stronger.  Up to this point I had hardly considered it seriously, only looking at the pros and cons of WCS.  It was then that my mind settled on interning with Case for the summer, and then pursuing part time next semester with WCS if they would still have me.  Upon this, the battle settled.  I didn't feel a huge shove in any direction, I just simply stopped wondering as much. 

The weekend passed, and I prayed that God would change my mind if He would have me do something else, but He never did.  I tried to find Case New Holand, or Springs, or something in the Bible, but couldn't.  No huge billboard saying "Stu, go here".  So I just relied on that small peace.  I did however read about making decisions out of wisdom, and trusting in God.  Encouraging, but not necessarily helpful. There were a few little things that happened.  Again not stunning, but I believe gentle nudges.  While I was on the phone with WCS, I began to see black and red everywhere (CNH's colors).  My binders, my pens.  We took a trip to ISU bible study on Thursday, and there was a kid in a Case sweatshirt.  Later, I also saw another friend wearing a Case sweatshirt.  It seemed coincidental at the time, not monumental, but I think it was a nudge.

The road to Case was also interesting, full of coincidences that combined to present the opportunity.  God seemed to be working through that, so it couldn't be ignored. (I wrote more on the story in my last post).  I just happened to go to Krannert's career fair (which I wasn't invited to). Just happened to have my resume critiqued by CNH.  Happened to run into the recruiter at a social that I barely decided to go to...  A lot of coincidence.
 
I finally called WCS with my final decision. I wanted to talk to that brother first and get his thoughts. I would go to CNH for the summer and learn from some pros, then hopefully work part-time next semester at WCS, and we would consider full-time in the future.  I told the brother, and his first words were: "You know Stu, I think you have made a wise decision."  Now that was a very encouraging confirmation.  Also big on his part to point me in a direction that would benefit me, not them as much.  I then contacted CNH and accepted the position.  When I got off the phone, I felt a peace roll over me, and a big smile cover my face.  Praise God for leading me.  I don't know where this road will take me exactly, but God does.

This process was interesting.  This is perhaps the largest decision I have made so far.  Where it is "only an internship"  As a Senior graduating in December, it will have a very large impact on my career.  As far as interviews were going, I actually ended up turning down a couple of interviews.  One of which was with Cessna Aircraft.  After I hung up the phone with them I had a panic attack "What did I just do!!!"  As I prayed later and reviewed the job description again, I felt a peace about letting it go, though.  Cessna has been kind of a dream job for me.  I took some flying lessons a while back, so the prospect of building those planes is amazing, but right now I didn't feel led that way.  Plus I couldn't consider another option or my head would explode, and I would have to turn down the Case offer before I would have the chance to interview with Cessna because of poor timing.  Not a risk I really wanted to try.  Anyway so now God has again opened up doors.  It is so amazing that just when we are nearing the end of our rope, God presents another just in time.