Jerimaha McClain '26, Management and Organizations

"The Bucknell education is just amazing in terms of preparing you for the world, preparing you for work, preparing you for anything."

Jerimaha McClain '26 signed up for the Pre-Orientation program, Taste Tech and Teamwork in Charlotte, N.C., because it sounded like a fun opportunity to visit a new city and meet new friends ahead of the start of his first semester at Bucknell. He didn't anticipate that he'd be returning to Charlotte as a full-time, paid intern — thanks to the Bucknell connection.

The Taste, Tech, and Teamwork Pre-O is unique because it doesn't take place on Bucknell's campus. Participants travel to and stay in another city (the 2024 destination is Pittsburgh), meet alumni business leaders, tour local food establishments, and connect with other incoming first-years — all free of cost.

"I think the whole opportunity to network and start your professional career as a student before even starting the school year is huge," McClain says. The management and organizations major applied to become a Taste, Tech and Teamwork student leader before the start of his second year, with the goal of helping to facilitate a positive experience for the next class of incoming first-year students.

Both years, McClain visited the Krispy Kreme headquarters and listened to a presentation from chief brand officer Dave Skena '92. Months later, McClain reached out to Skena to inquire about internship opportunities at Krispy Kreme. Skena put in a personal recommendation for him with the company's internship program. "He took a bet on referring me to the program solely because of where I go to school," the Bowie, Md., native says. "The reason I got the opportunity to intern in Charlotte is because of the Bucknell network."

As a global operations intern at Krispy Kreme, McClain was able to experience what it's like to work at a global corporation operating in over 40 countries. McClain learned about shop design, improving training systems, setting global shop standards, managing limited-time offer (LTO) processes and ingredient orders across all U.S. locations. At the end of the experience, he designed and presented an LTO to company executives.

"There's so many moving parts that go into an LTO," he says. "You have the marketing and advertising, the operations of understanding what's needed to make the special doughnuts, the packaging sourcing, the places that it's going."

He says he's seeing his Bucknell education in action. "There's a lot of stuff that I learned in that class this past spring that I'm learning about and applying to what I'm seeing while working," he says.

At Bucknell, McClain serves as a member of the Freeman College of Management Student Advisory Board, a representative student group that develops community-building initiatives within the Freeman College, which he says has helped him develop people skills. "I get a lot of practice talking to people and networking, which has helped me become better at communicating and leading conversations," he says. "In my past two years at Bucknell, I feel like I've grown so much because of the atmosphere at school.

"A Bucknell education is just amazing in terms of preparing you for the world, preparing you for work, preparing you for anything."