My Internship Experience at Peloton Land Solutions

Introduction

I began my internship with Peloton Land Solutions on June 4th, 2018. During the last six months I have learned about what Urban Planners do and have also had the pleasure of working with other disciplines such as landscape architects, professional engineers, environmental scientists, and surveyors. The purpose of this report is to elaborate on the experience I have gained since starting this internship, and what I have been able to apply from classes that I have previously taken at Texas A&M University.

Reason for Choosing Peloton Land Solutions

I am Peloton’s very first planning intern since they previously only offered internships for engineering students. I met two of Peloton’s employees through the College of Architecture’s Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Department career fair. When I met with Jordan Kaylor and David Kalhoefer that day, they were seeking to hire for a full-time position but ultimately decided to take a chance on me. I researched Peloton after being in contact with Jordan and David and realized that they were much more than an engineering firm which had some sway in my decision to pursue an internship with them. Since there was not technically an internship available for me, Jordan and David had to vouch for me and convince upper management at Peloton that a planning intern was a necessary addition to the team.

After about a month of me following up with them at the end of every week, I was invited for an interview in Fort Worth which is where I got to meet many of the important people who keep Peloton running at its best. During the interview I was treated with the upmost respect, and throughout my internship this has been a common occurrence. I can confidently say that throughout this process I have not been treated as I would expect an intern to be treated; I have been treated as a member of the team and most importantly, a part of the Peloton family.

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I chose Peloton because I honestly just knew it was where I belonged the moment I met Jordan and David at the career fair, and I know they felt it too. Moving to the Dallas/Fort Worth area has been one of the best decisions I have ever made, only behind studying Urban and Regional Planning at Texas A&M University. I enjoy Peloton because I feel like my values align with theirs and for me that is an important aspect in my career choice. Peloton’s slogan is “Gain Ground” and over these last six months I have come to learn many of the different number of meanings to that simple phrase; whether it is the constant pursuit to grow the business, improving the community, or always doing what is best in our industry. The offices are so lively and upper management does a fantastic job “rallying the troops” for group events, charity and volunteering opportunities, and holiday celebrations. I believe I was blessed to receive the opportunity to join the Peloton family these last six months, and I cannot be more grateful.

What I Did During My Internship & How I Applied Skills from Classes

During the last six months I have been creating bubble-plans, conceptual plans, conceptual lotting exhibits for subdivisions, exhibits for zoning cases , constraints exhibits, land planning exercises for large master planned communities, and even park and walking trail credit exhibits for city submittals. Most of the things I work on require me to use Photoshop, AutoCAD and a program called Microstation which is similar to AutoCAD, and ArcGIS. We use GIS data like topography, jurisdictional waters, parcels, and even thoroughfare alignments to prepare base map information for projects. What I have learned is that information that comes from GIS, such as parcel data, is not always the most precise but provides a good illustrative representation of the area we are working in. The most tedious work I have done is preliminary plats for single family residential developments. Preliminary plats are very time consuming and require close attention to detail to provide correct graphical information about land uses, acreages, easements, drainage and other information required for cities to evaluate proposed developments.

Working in the private sector has taught me about city governments and how they work, but more on an outside-looking-in perspective. Most private sector developers and land planners focus on how many lots or buildings can be placed within a single tract of land, while the cities put mitigation procedures in place to ensure that the integrity of the land and continuity of the area is preserved. Peloton works differently; since we have in-house hydrology, environmental scientists, engineers, landscape architects and urban planners, we all work together to ensure we are doing what is best for the development and surrounding areas. I am grateful for the opportunities I have been provided with Peloton, and I am very pleased with the amount of knowledge I gained throughout my internship and I am so excited to apply it during my last semester.

The classes I have taken have helped me develop my communication and problem-solving skills, which I believe are the most important life skills a person can have, to such a high level and have proven to be so beneficial during these last six months. One thing that I picked up from classes is to first try to understand before being understood; basically, listen well and ask questions. No one will ever be upset at the person who is trying to understand better because that person is putting in effort and not just trying to do everything the hard way or figure it out by themselves. I think this philosophy has made such an impact in all aspects of my life, not just in school and work but also in my personal life as well. The skills I use most from my classes are Photoshop and AutoCAD. I do a substantial amount of design and rendering work at Peloton, which coincidentally is my favorite thing to do. It surprises me how much my Photoshop skills have developed since starting, along with my AutoCAD/Microstation knowledge.

Things That I Have Learned & How I have Furthered My Skills from Classes

I have had the opportunity to learn some new skills during my internship but have also continued to develop my existing skills as well. The first new skill is being able to use a new-to-me program called Microstation, which overall is very similar to AutoCAD, and is used primarily by the planning and landscape architecture department while the engineers prefer to use AutoCAD’s Civil 3D program; I have used Civil 3D a few times during my internship, but mainly use Microstation when working on projects and exhibits. The second skill I learned is the ability to navigate through online Municode documents when reviewing city ordinances for regulations and standards. Research is a large aspect of my job thus far, and the engineers will often consult the planning department when they are looking for construction guidelines and engineering standards.

There are a few things that I do not believe I was ever taught in my classes that I believe would be beneficial for future URPN students. A large part of my job is being able to understand topography and how it affects water runoff and drainage. I do not believe that I have ever taken a class that explains anything about topography which now is concerning because it is such a large factor in the land planning industry. Another skill that I wish I had known before my internship would be how to use an engineering scale; I know it seems simple, but I use mine daily now and cannot imagine life without it. I understand that AutoCAD can measure and scale drawings, but there are many times where I am given a printed plan set and do not have access to an AutoCAD file for designing, so I end up hand sketching a concept and must use my scale to ensure accurate measurements. I do not mean to insult the college in any way, but I believe these things would be important to teach students who are interested in working in the private sector post-graduation.

I have had the opportunity to explore hand drawing while working with David Kalhoefer as well. David is a more traditional landscape architect/planner and prefers to sketch by hand rather than in a computer program like Photoshop. David will often send me a tract of land and he will ask me to hand-draw a concept before putting it into the computer because he believes I should be capable of doing both. I have done some of my best design and rendering work under David’s supervision and guidance during my internship, and when I first started, I thought he was being nitpicky about minor things but have come to understand that a priority in my job is being able to convey a message and even the smallest detail can make a substantial difference.

Under the direction of Jordan Kaylor and Chelsea Lemons, both landscape architects, I have gotten to explore the world of landscape architecture through their knowledge about landscape design and watching them create intriguing landscape plans. I have learned different ways of designing through them and have enjoyed their encouragement throughout the process. Jordan is a fellow Aggie and has told me often that he sees a lot of his younger-self in me, to me that is such an incredible compliment because he is such a hard worker and is so knowledgeable and competent with the material he works with.

Some of the skills that I have continued to develop are my Photoshop, GIS, and AutoCAD skills. I use these three programs daily while preparing various exhibits for clients. As I had mentioned before, an important part of my career is being able to convey a message to people. One of the most important exercises when land planning is creating a constraints exhibit; every project that we work on starts off with a constraints exhibit, and I am using this as an example because it combines the use of all three programs mentioned above. For a constraints exhibit, I research oil and natural gas pipelines, utility easements, topography, and city ordinances among many other things. It is important to have this information because it decides what can be done with a tract of land, and if those uses are within the client’s original expectations. Sometimes a project will work, and many times it unfortunately will not. I have worked on many projects during my six months here and I have only seen a few of those reach the preliminary platting stage, even then it is not guaranteed to reach completion as it still must be approved by the city.

How This Internship Has Contributed to My Professional Experience

This internship has contributed so much to my professional experience and I only have positive remarks. I now have over six months of experience in the Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning field and can say that I am comfortable with the work that I will be doing in my career. By the time I graduate next semester I will have almost an entire year’s worth of experience since I will continue working part-time for Peloton from College Station while I finish school. I have met so many people in my future-industry that believe in me and have nurtured my career and goals in life allowing me to flourish during my time here. Thinking about this makes me recall one of my favorite quotes, which is “Bloom where you are planted.”

Things I Liked About My Internship

There has been so much I have enjoyed about my internship during my time here. I enjoy the atmosphere of the office, the comradery between coworkers, how understanding upper management is, and just the drive that I have seen from the whole company. The word “peloton” has French origins and originally meant “platoon,” and if this does not describe the sense of unity within the company, I would not know how else to describe it. I have been treated as a member of my platoon during my time here which was not what I was expecting going in as an intern. I appreciate the fact that there was so much to do when I started that I was quite literally thrown head-first into work within my first week at the company. While it was somewhat stressful at the time, I look back and I am so incredibly grateful. I even discussed this with Jordan a few weeks ago over lunch, and as he put it “It was a sink or swim moment. Some people can handle it, like you, and others can’t. There was too much to do and we needed everyone to work on what they could.”

Self-Evaluation of My Internship Experience

Overall, I would describe my internship as a complete success. I am leaving on December 14th but will continue to work for Peloton part-time as I finish my last semester. I have signed my offer letter for full-time employment after graduation and was able to choose which office I would prefer to work out of. I chose the Frisco office, but choosing one office over the other was an incredibly hard decision because I had spent a substantial amount of time in both the Fort Worth and Frisco offices and liked them both. I feel as though I learned a lot about technical job duties at the Fort Worth office but had the opportunity to apply my interpersonal skills at the Frisco office.

Nathan Thompson, Operations Manager at the Frisco office and one of the Associate Principals of Peloton, was a major deciding factor for why I chose the Frisco office over the Fort Worth office. Nathan gave me the opportunity to help plan a large 4,000-acre master planned community in Rockwall, Texas. This was such an incredible learning experience for me as I got to be involved in client and city meetings, make comprehensive changes to plans, as well as personally coordinate and communicate with the client. Nathan had basically taken me under his wing during this time and would later go on to tell me that before I came along, he would have never considered taking an intern to meetings with him. The amount of support and encouragement I received has driven me to want to succeed and do great things, and I know with Peloton Land Solutions I will.

The Effect This Internship Will Have on My Future Career

This internship has paved my way for an amazing career straight out of college. I will not have to worry about finding a job and will be able to return and work with the people I have come to know so well over my internship. It makes me sad to know that I will be leaving soon to return for my final semester, but I know it is what I must do and that it is worth it. This all being said, I am eager to see what I can learn during my last semester, and I am particularly interested in the infrastructure funding class because of my brief experience with MMD, MUD, TIF & TIRZ districts during my internship.

Reflections of A Happy Intern

While I was searching for internships, I had the opportunity to interview with over ten companies. I received offers from companies in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and some small towns scattered in between, but I still chose Peloton over all the others. Before moving to DFW, I had never lived in a large metropolitan area and was absolutely terrified of driving on busy highways. I can happily say that I have conquered that fear, and that is just one of the many small personal victories I have accomplished over the last six months.

I have been in contact with some of my other URPN classmates who took internships close to me. It has been interesting to meet up with them periodically and compare how our internships have gone. Over the course of these last six months, it has been amazing to see everything my classmates have accomplished, and it is bittersweet in many ways to know that most of us only have one semester left and will be parting ways afterwards. I have come to learn that the field we will be entering after graduation is small, and I feel as though everyone knows everyone, so I know there will be times where I cross paths with some of my fellow URPN classmates again at some point.

Concluding Remarks

In conclusion, I would describe my interning experience as an absolute success. I have gained so much knowledge from my time with Peloton, and I am incredibly grateful for the guidance from the LAUP Department. I have learned about what Urban Planners do, and how I can effectively apply my skills in my career. I am thankful that the Urban and Regional Planning program requires a semester away and can vouch that it is completely necessary. I came into this internship knowing that I would learn a lot about my future career and my likes and dislikes therein, but little did I know that I would also learn a lot about myself and others around me.

I have learned that in your lifetime there is a good chance that you will spend more time with your coworkers than you will your future spouse and children, and that you should reach out and get to know the people around you. Your coworkers can also be your friends, and drinks after work is a wonderful end to an incredibly busy and stressful week. I learned that my opinions matter when it comes to what people are needing and asking of me, and that I should always express my thoughts and questions no matter how absurd they may sound to me at the time.

I learned that it is okay to say no when someone asks if you can do something when you are already working on multiple other projects at the same time, but to always offer to do it when you have some time free up. I learned to always express gratitude when someone helps you, no matter how small the task, because they took time out of their day just for you. Most importantly, I have learned about what I will be doing for the rest of my life, and how I can make a significant difference in this world.