Kendall Somers, right, with her winning case study group.
Senior Kendall Somers has seen the talent level on the Centre College swim team grow dramatically during her three years on the team.
“We have really talented athletes. Even the ones that do not make the scoring roster are really talented,” said Somers.
Still, Somers didn’t spend a lot of time in the pool this summer because of her internship work as an analyst for JP Morgan Chase & Co. in Plano, Texas, not far from her home in Dallas. Somers, a double major in business along with economics and finance, knew she wanted an internship in a corporate or financial setting. She applied for about 60 internships but ironically JP Morgan was the first one she applied for — and she got it.
“I went through three rounds of interviews. They told me they had about 100,000 applications and only picked 1,000 in the U.S.,” Somers said. “It really surprised me to be picked. I feel very lucky because it was a very, very diverse class. I am a senior athlete trying to leave my mark on the school and want people to remember my name. But I never imagined for me it might be by breaking into the corporate scene.”
The internships were split into 15 groups across the United States and her case study group won the competition on marketing strategies for the new JPMorgan Wealth Plan.
“It truly was an incredible experience and we competed against four other groups in the midwest region. We collaborated well on a project we were all extremely proud of,” Somers said. “The goal of the internship was to be a good communicator and good team player. We had good chemistry and made a marketing plan that appealed to people in our generation and made a JP Morgan wealth plan more appealing to young adults ages 20 to 30. People our age are mainly focused on paying for school, financing a car or something like that. We had a plan the judges liked to make it more appealing to people our ages to have a wealth plan.”
Her work paid off because she recently received an offer to return to JP Morgan as a full-time employee after graduation in the spring.
“I am excited to return to the firm in June,” she said.
Now her focus has turned to being ready for her final swim season with the Colonels. She lifted weights five days per week during the summer to maintain strength and agility.
“I have about a month to get back in the pool and get that muscle memory back,” she said. “It was hard to find any pool time. I worked from 8 (a.m.) to 5 (p.m.) and had to commute back and forth from home. I would make myself exercise and find time to do it. I knew if I didn’t have some kind of consistency (with weights) that I would not be prepared at all for our season. I wish I could have swam more but I was caught up in the culture of our company. We all liked to hang out together even after work.”
It’s the same culture the Centre swim team has. Her freshman year the team trained in the six-lane pool in Bole Natatorium with 40 to 50 team members. Last year the team moved into Champions Hall that has a pool with 10 50-meter lanes. The team also now has over 80 members.
“(Coach) Dean Brownley does a great job with our team culture. I would not have continued swimming if that had not been the case,” Somers said. “Dean knew with a new pool he would go hard in recruiting but it is still the same Centre swim and dive culture. We all work toward the same goal. It’s definitely a different dynamic, too, now that the women won the conference championship. We all want the same goal and that’s why I know I need to get back in the pool, get to work and get ready for my senior season.”
