Being only ten minutes from downtown Indianapolis, one of the fastest growing metropolitan cities in the country and the epicenter of Indiana’s state government, made the University of Indianapolis the perfect place for Collin Brown to pursue his master of business administration (MBA).
Evansville native Collin Brown was determined to use his college years not only to gain a top-tier education, but also to develop as much professional experience as possible through real-world opportunities.
“I’ve always been interested in business,” said Collin. “And being from a smaller town, I wanted to go to a school in a larger city, which would offer more opportunities and business connections.”
As part of UIndy’s accelerated MBA program, Collin was required to complete an internship in his field of finance. With so many opportunities at his fingertips, Collin knew he needed to take his time, do his research, and find the right fit for him. That’s when he learned about the Indiana Senate Republican Caucus Internship Program.
“I was looking for opportunities in government because I wanted to get more familiar with the political system and how the government operates at the state level,” said Collin. “I stumbled across the Indiana Senate internship online. I applied to it, interviewed and was lucky enough to get hired on.”
Collin earned a highly-competitive role as a legislative intern for State Senator Travis Holdman during the 2024 Legislative Session. In this role, Collin assisted with tracking and analyzing bill data, providing constituent services for Senate District 19 (including Bluffton, Markle, and Decatur, Indiana), conducting policy research, and staffing legislative committee hearings and meetings.
“I did a lot of cool things but the most rewarding was just helping constituents,” said Collin. “One of my main roles was responding to constituent emails and calls about all kinds of sensitive and important issues that were near and dear to their hearts. Being able to help people on the ground and in the actual community and feeling that I provided value to their life was super rewarding to me.”
Due to his passion for and education in finance, Collin was assigned to staff the Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee, chaired by Senator Holdman. Collin attended every meeting of the committee to take notes in real-time of the committee’s proceedings that would later be used to brief caucus leadership. This fast-paced, high-pressure environment would be intimidating to most people, but Collin was confident in his abilities thanks to his time at UIndy.
“My courses at UIndy definitely gave me the foundation to walk into that internship and be able to operate at a professional level and be in a good position to learn new things,” explained Collin.
When the legislative session ended in mid-March, Collin walked away with a professional network to help him discover future opportunities as well as professional skills that can’t be taught in a classroom.
“I’ve gained a lot of major skills from the internship that there’s simply no way I could’ve learned that in a course,” said Collin. “Talking to constituents on the phone is a perfect example of that. After a full-time experience in the Senate and also working through my coursework, I’ve been able to see how both the classroom and also the actual, real-life experience are important to professional development.”
Collin will continue his journey with Indiana’s political system by serving as the field coordinator on the re-election campaign for Indiana Senator Rodric Bray, who currently serves as President Pro Tempore of the Indiana Senate.
