renate estere liepina, data analyst at aon, chicago

Hi from the Windy City – Chicago!
Up until this point, I have experienced nearly all seasons in this beautiful city, and I have definitely been blown away. But not because of the wind – rather by the amazing, kind people that I have been lucky enough to meet, the perfect summer, and the exciting and never-ending events happening all around. I would go as far as to say Chicago is a gem hidden in plain sight.

As I am embarking on my last month here at Aon plc, I can attest to my personal and professional growth. Working with the Global Claims Team I have exponentially advanced my Excel and Power BI skills and even familiarized myself with more technical tools such as Snowflake and Alteryx. I joined the team in an interesting time – amid developing a new claims platform while upkeeping and maintaining the old one. I got to witness how important decisions on functionalities are made, how feedback from teams across the world gets consolidated and made into something that could work for most, if not everyone, and also how projects of this magnitude require some trade-offs, in-depth resource planning, and projection capabilities. However, most of all, I saw how our team of 7 people can do almost the impossible.

So, while I will definitely be coming back with tangible skills, I will also be taking with me the admiration and awe I have for my excellent team. colleagues and managers, and in hopes that I can one day be like them.

Besides my internship, I enjoy and do all things “Chicago”. I discovered apps where all the local (free!) events get posted and just started attending! I joined a social beach volleyball league – and while my team didn’t win the playoffs, surely, we won people’s hearts.
Some other events I attended are “Neighborhood Explore”, “Sunset Watch Party”, “Salsa Before Sunset”, and those helped me make meaningful friendships that will not make the goodbyes any easier.
Of course, there is much to see outside of Chicago as well. So far, I have also visited Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Austin (thanks to our amazing BAFF Enrichment trip), Miami and Washington D.C. Soon, I will add New Orleans, Phoenix, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas to this list.

This has been an amazing year and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I still look forward to what the last two months have in store!