Meet 3Points’ Winter Intern, Northwestern’s Adam Curwin

As regular readers of our blog will know, we’ve really enjoyed bringing college students onto our 3Points team as interns over their summer breaks. Being a boutique firm, we are able to provide unique opportunities for interns to contribute and take on real responsibility within the company, gaining insight not only into public relations but also into the growth of a small business. And 3Points has certainly benefited from smart and talented students joining our ranks.

As such, we’re very excited to welcome our first non-summer intern: Northwestern University junior Adam Curwin. Adam will be working with us throughout his winter quarter, helping with a wide variety of tasks. We look forward to having him in the office for the next few months — get to know him yourself via the Q&A below!

Can you tell us a little more about your program at Northwestern?

I am a junior studying Learning and Organizational Change, which is one of five majors in the School of Education & Social Policy. It’s an interdisciplinary major that focuses on business management from a more personal perspective, as opposed to a financial perspective. It examines businesses through the lenses of psychology and sociology, in addition to investigating management styles and operations strategies through comprehensive case studies. In short, it’s “the people side of business” or “business without the numbers.”

What do you enjoy about PR?

I really like PR because you have the chance to get other people excited enough about your brand to showcase what you do. As opposed to traditional marketing where you buy ads to improve brand awareness or promote a product, PR allows others to market for you.

Thus, I like that it’s earned. You can’t just buy more ads or another commercial spot in the Super Bowl. You have to be doing something interesting enough to make somebody else want to spread the word.

What interested you specifically about 3Points?

I was specifically interested in 3Points because of the innovative and collaborative culture. As a firm that has experienced so much growth since its inception, but still functions with a small team, 3Points has so much space for innovation. The small team allows for every voice to be heard and for interdisciplinary collaboration between different sectors of the business. It has the power of a larger firm but the entrepreneurial qualities of a smaller one.

What are you looking forward to learning here?

I’m looking forward to learning how my classroom assignments actually apply to the real world (**fingers crossed that they actually do**). One specific thing I am hoping to learn is how to create and edit various forms of content for publication. I am also interested in learning a bit about analytics and number crunching.

You’re from Arizona originally — what was the biggest adjustment for you upon moving to Evanston?

Arizona is really hot. Evanston is not. Growing up with 70 degrees in the winter, and then coming to Evanston where the weather is 7 degrees in the winter, was a huge adjustment. I had to buy a whole new winter wardrobe. After three years, I’m still adjusting.

What has been your favorite class at Northwestern so far?

My favorite class at Northwestern so far is definitely LOC 211, the introductory class for my major. I really enjoyed the class structure. It met once a week for three hours, but we certainly didn’t have lecture for three hours. We would have a brief 30–40 minute lecture, then we would discuss a case study that we read, and then we would do a hands-on activity. This activity could be as simple as a team-building exercise or as complex as a theoretical build-a-business activity, or anything in between. The class really promoted using complex thinking and teamwork to accomplish a goal, which is a founding pillar of my major. The professor also really cared about each of her students, which always makes a class better.

What’s one interesting thing that the average person might not know about Northwestern?

One interesting thing that the average person most certainly wouldn’t know is that the largest and most popular class at Northwestern is Introduction to Russian Literature. Apparently it’s life-changing. I haven’t personally taken it.

What do you enjoy outside of school?

Outside of school, I love sports and physical activity. I played hockey through high school and now I am a referee on weekends in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). I also follow the NHL very closely, my favorite team being this season’s expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights. [Editor’s Note: Way to get in before the bandwagon!] Additionally, I am always in the gym or running, preparing for my next obstacle course race.

Aside from athletics, I love to read non-fiction books, I spend a ton of time with friends, I enjoy traveling (I just got back from South America), I watch my fair share of Netflix (currently watching the 2010 version of Hawaii Five-O), and with whatever time I have leftover from all of that, I might squeeze in some studying.