Top Notch

Business undergrad lands a job with Amazon after wowing them during an internship his junior year.

Andrew VanDenburgh may be in his final semester at Indiana State, but he’s already looking beyond commencement after he accepted a position last fall as an area manager at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Denver.

“This job offer was one of the most exciting moments of my life,” said VanDenburgh, who will graduate in May with a double major in operations and supply chain management and marketing with a concentration in sales management. “I knew I wanted an internship experience my junior year. When I saw an opportunity at Amazon, I saw it as a gold standard internship in my eyes. I had applied to five to 10 places a day when I was looking for an internship, and Amazon was the first to get back with me.”

After proving himself on the internship last summer, VanDenburgh was offered a full-time position in August in his first pick of locations. Now the real work is underway for VanDenburgh, as he finishes his last semester of college, hunts for an apartment in Denver and plans his upcoming nuptials.

“Amazon is such a well-known company, and I was so excited that I immediately called my family when I found out. It was definitely one of the most exciting moments of life so far,” he said. “While I may be moving across the country, the connections I made during college were so great. I plan to keep in touch with all the great people who have helped me along the way.”

It’s almost hard to believe that more than four years ago VanDenburgh didn’t originally have his heart set on being a Sycamore.

“It was my dad who suggested that we stop in Terre Haute and see if Indiana State could give us a tour,” VanDenburgh said. “We immediately got put in a tour group with only one other person. It was actually my friend from high school, which was a weird coincidence to me because I’m from up near Chicago.”

Whether it was a coincidence or fate, VanDenburgh made a 180-degree turn on his college choice after that tour. “I fell in love with close-knit community feel as we walked around Indiana State’s campus that day,” he said. “I liked the more personalized education I saw versus classes with 300 students. I feel like at Indiana State there was more attention on me as a student than on me as just a number because my professors all know me as Andrew.”

VanDenburgh took his time acclimating himself with campus. By sophomore year, though, he was jumping in with both feet and joined Residential Life as an Academic Peer Advocate for two years and became a desk manager his senior year.

He also looked to delve deeper into his studies by joining APICS and helping other business students develop as professionals at the Meis Center in the Scott College of Business.

“I used the Meis Center a lot coming up through my undergraduate years, so it’s cool now to be able to give back and help other students develop and grow just like I did,” he said. “It’s just like my professors in the operations and supply chain management program did for me. The Scott College of Business really has a top-notch operations and supply chain management program, where the professors do everything to prepare you to get you where you want to be post-graduation. I’ve honestly never had teachers who cared this much before.”