Jude Chelico '26 - Partner
Details
This summer, Jude Chelico '26 worked with Haverford alum Skip West at his company, Maxsa Innovations. Read more about Jude's Whitehead Partner summer experience!
My name is Jude Chelico, and this summer I had the privilege of participating in the Whitehead internship program through the CCPA. Through this program, I was able to intern at MAXSA Innovations, a small business based in Fairfax, Virginia, run by Skip West (HC’78). As a rising Junior majoring in Economics and Mathematics, an internship at MAXSA was an excellent way to explore the business world and further develop my professional interests. Through my time at MAXSA, I have become more confident in myriad aspects of my professional life, from the types of projects I enjoy working on to the environments I feel most comfortable working in.
At MAXSA Innovations, I was afforded a high degree of independence and autonomy. This could be challenging at times, as it required me to seek out and define my own work. However, the looseness of the internship’s structure also allowed me to pursue a much broader and deeper understanding of the company, and of the small business world more generally, than I otherwise would have in a more regimented environment.
Another thing that stands out about my experience at MAXSA Innovations was the holistic nature of the internship. I was not restricted to any one area of the company; rather, I experienced all levels of its operations. From accounting to design to shipping and warehouse management, I was able to explore every aspect of what it means to run a business.
This stuck out to me as a particular benefit of an internship at a small business. Because MAXSA is far too small to be segmented into various departments, I was exposed to and immersed in the full spectrum of the business. This was a highly rewarding experience, and an extremely valuable component of the internship program at MAXSA.
My main takeaway from this summer is that it is important to assert your interests and needs in your job, whatever that job may be. MAXSA is a great opportunity for students with previous professional experience to expand upon their understanding of business and explore new areas of potential interest, so long as they are prepared to be intentional and define their own work.
