James Checca gains valuable business experience working at The Office of Thierry Despont, Ltd.
Montclair High School senior James Checca understands that a part of becoming successful has to do with connections. The Career Internship Program at Montclair High School has allowed Checca an opportunity to use his own connections, as he decided to utilize his father’s position at The Office of Thierry Despont, Ltd. for his four week internship. The office is an architectural design firm, specializing in luxury residential work, as well as hotels, museum projects and historical restorations.
Although not aspiring to be an architect himself, Checca finds the internship at The Office of Thierry Despont has given him a better understanding of the business world by working as an assistant around the office. “I do not have a set position here,” Checca. “I go around and help out any way I can, which allows me to get a gist of how each of the departments work individually as well as how they connect for an end product.”
As an assistant, his flexibility comes with responsibility. Checca has had to learn a variety of tools to participate in the everyday affairs at The Office of Thierry Despont. “I have become familiar with applications such as AutoCAD, an engineering software used for digital draftings of architectural blueprints, and Mathematica, software which allows us to implement more complex math equations for financial calculations that are not included in a spreadsheet,” said Checca.
However, Checca said that learning these applications will “give [him] a leg up” in his studies in the future as these tools are common among math majors, which Checca plans on pursuing at college.
Since beginning his internship, James Checca has continued to stress the importance of connections in finding your way in the world. “My dad is an architect here at the office which is how I found this opportunity from the outset,” he said. “Here I have already met my fair share of individuals who may be able to provide connections for me in the future.”
During his time at Montclair High School, Checca excelled in academics and was a member of the National Honors Society. Checca was also a member of the golf team, which he values as part of his Montclair High School experience. Since the beginning of this school year, he has worked as a math tutor at Ivy Prep LLC.
Next fall, James Checca will be attending Rutgers University, where he plans on studying applied mathematics and computer science as a part of the Honors College. “I am glad I was given this opportunity,” said Checca. “It is not over yet but I can already say the experience is definitely worth its weight in gold.”
The Montclair Dispatch is proud to have support the Montclair High School Senior Option Program for the past 3 years. You can learn more about the four 2016 Senior Option students by reading their article here.
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