Catherine Froehlich

In the spring of 2016, Catherine (Katie) graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance. She is now part of the Finance Leadership Development Program (FLDP) at Siemens conglomerate company. The rotational program provides Katie the opportunity to gain experience in various fields and exposure to four different areas of the company, such as financial analysis, corporate, accounting, and internal auditing. Each rotation lasts for a period of six months and gives Katie the chance to work in different parts of a company ranked among the top 50 in sales in the world.

Prior to gaining her position within the Development Program, Katie interned for Siemens from May to August in 2015. She encourages all current students to participate in an internship program as a way to make business connections and gain professional experience. 

Looking back at her time at FSU, Katie notes the Honors program was a big reason why she attended FSU. As an Orlando native, she applied to several universities in Florida, but ultimately decided to attend FSU after learning about the benefits offered by the Honors program. She particularly enjoyed the intimate environments offered by the small classrooms and living in the Honors residential hall.

“One of my favorite Honors classes was an Honors speech class. Our small summer class met twice a week for three hours each session.” At first, Katie was not sure if the time commitment would truly be worth it. But in the end, Katie feels she was able to engage and practice her speeches in a comfortable environment after spending so much time with her class of fifteen Honors students.

To current and future Honors student, Katie advices them “to always keep building your network”. As a participant in the Financial Leadership Development Program, Katie has learned the value of professional connections and notes that you “never know who along the road can help you build”. She advises all students to start networking and making connections “from the get-go” in order to help fuel their dreams.