Ford internship was life-changer for TWU biz student

Oct. 8, 2024 ― DENTON ― Chuk Anyanwu almost turned down a coveted opportunity to interview – live and on stage – a top executive of the Ford Motor Company. 

The Texas Woman’s senior recently completed a summer internship at Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. Toward the end of his internship, one of Anyanwu’s managers asked if he could co-host the annual intern Fireside Chat on stage with Bill Ford, the company’s executive chair and great grandson of company founder Henry Ford. 

“I was so scared and so fearful,” Anyanwu said. “Why was I scared? I knew my brain had the words, but what if they don’t come out during the most pivotal time?”

Anyanwu, who is gregarious by nature, found his voice by telling himself that success is on the other side of fear. And, he knew he would regret it if he didn’t say yes. The experience became one of his favorite moments of the summer. 

Anyanwu, a business administration major at the Merrilee Alexander Kick College of Business and Entrepreneurship, was one of 500 college interns from all over the country that descended on the Dearborn campus in June.

“It was amazing for me to go and represent TWU,” Anyanwu said. 

As a member of the cataloging and releasing team, he tracked new vehicle parts and ensured their availability at Ford dealerships.

“I got to see everything from talking to our suppliers, talking to the purchasing team to the transportation team,” Anyanwu said. “And, so it was a mix of everything. And, I got to use some of the skills that I love: Excel.”

When Anaynwu was searching for internships, he looked specifically for supply-chain positions that would improve his data analytics skills. After a previous internship at an Amazon warehouse, he realized that the supply-chain aspect of the business field interested him the most as a potential career path. 

“I was able to build on my analytics skills, 10 times,” Anyanwu said about his Ford internship. “Being able to become better at my analytics skills, I think that’s something I will be able to take anywhere. I feel as if it is always in demand.”

When he had free time during his internship, Anyanwu would email Ford employees and ask for advice. 

“They allowed me to use my technical skills,” Anyanwu said. “They allowed me to use my verbal skills, and they allowed me to just have a sphere of people to network with in case I wanted to move to a different part of the company.” 

Perseverance went a long way in helping Anyanwu obtain his internship. During the summer of 2023, Anyanwu spent his days on his computer on the lower floor of Hubbard Hall, searching on LinkedIn for internships. 

“For me, my goal was ‘I have to submit 20 applications before I leave,’ ” Anyanwu recalled.

He thinks he applied to 150 internships, with many rejections, before he got the nod from Ford. And, his first thought after he received the offer was relief that he could stop applying for internships. His next thought was that he just got an opportunity of a lifetime. 

“I felt so excited,” Anyanwu said. “I knew ‘your life is going to change. And if you do a good job there, they are going to bring you back.” 

The 12-week internship, Anyanwu said, was an interview in itself for the Ford College Graduate Program, which provides recent college graduates with a variety of assignments during their first years with the company. 

Two days after returning from Michigan, Anyanwu was offered a spot in the FCGP program. After graduating in December 2024, he will start working in January as a full-time employee for Ford. 

“It was a life-changing experience because they have now given me the opportunity to where, I know, I can be financially okay whenever I decide to have a family,” Anyanwu said.