Alum of the Month
Helen & Richard Greenaway
April 2012
New York Program
September 95 Intake
What and where did you study before your Mountbatten internship?
(R) University Of Wales, Swansea – American Management
(H) University of Northumbria, Newcastle, Secretarial Administration
What made you apply for the Mountbatten programme?
(R) Wanted to go back to America to work after studying there as part of my UK degree. Also, had spent a lot of time in NYC before and loved it.
(H) Was unsure of what path to take after University and hoped that the programme would guide me forward and provide an insight as to a way forward. I also had a passion to live in the USA after having visited my grandparents several times each year since i was a child. They live in florida and the american way of life has always appealed to me.
Describe your sponsor company and your role within it.
(R) AT&T – working in their internal resourcing department.
(H) The Law Offices of Richard S Goldstein. The role was purely secretarial, working for the owner of the company and his 2 paralegals. What made the role challenging was learning to deal with an extremely difficult boss. The circumstances set me up well for the future, and built extreme confidence going forward.
What was the highlight/most memorable moment of your working experience during this year?
(R) The 1996 Atlanta Olympics – planning voluntary staff to help staff the Olympic Games
(H) Spending time with other fellow mountbatten interns and building lifelong relationships with them. The fun times and experiences we shared will stay with me forever.
What was the social highlight/most memorable moment during this year?
(R)Taking all the new interns to Yankee Stadium and getting Mountbatten’s name on the Jumbotron in center field
(H) Going to the above event was the most fun thing i had ever experienced. We now go to baseball games everywhere we travel because our two children love it too.
Please share a little wisdom/philosophy that you acquired during your internship
(R) I learned that technology was going to drive my career and that that living with 60 ladies did not help me learn or gain insight into how the female brain works.
(H) Persevere, even in extremely difficult circumstances, the benefits usually pay off
If you could change anything about your internship, what would it be?
(R) Have worked in NYC rather than out in Morristown
(H) To have worked for a bigger company that enabled me to meet more local people
What happened after completing the year - what did you do next?
(R) Returned to the UK and spent several years figuring out how to come back to the USA and live, whilst building my career in technology.
(H) After spending the last few weeks of the visa travelling around the new england area, followed by a short trip to Bermuda, i returned to the UK, directly to London and was offered 2 jobs almost immediately. I decided to take the path through Human Resources within the Debenhams Head Office company.
Where are you now in your working life and what do you do?
We now live in Atlanta and have 2 children aged 4 and 7. Richard is a VP at a Software Company which specializes in Intelligent Transportation Systems. Helen stays home to take care of the children and the home. She also does some volunteer work with The West Highland White Terrier Club of Atlanta, a breed of dog she is passionate about and volunteers with the local elementary school foundation board.
Do you have any future plans that you would like to realise & what are they (career & social)?
Be the best parents we can be and try and get our sons to live and fight for their dreams.
Is there any other information that you would like to be included?
The Mountbatten Internship introduced us to each other and confirmed how much we both wanted to live in USA.