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This summer, John Sariego (CA’28) wanted to study entrepreneurship and take a deep look at what’s happening in the business world. To that end, he accepted an internship with the Acton Institute’s Emerging Leaders Program, an eight-week course of study in Grand Rapids, Michigan, aimed at incorporating Catholic social teaching into economics.  

“I saw it as a good way of bridging my TAC education with the business side of things,” John shares. “I wanted to apply the theoretical knowledge I’ve learned to the practical side of business.”

During the summer, John had the opportunity to gain professional experience, network, and study important ideas about free society through Socratic seminars. It was in these discussions that he was able to shine. “I got the reputation for wanting to think through the first principles,” he laughs. “The running joke this summer was that everyone knew I was going to take the conversation to the principles behind what we were saying.”

John shared an apartment with two other interns and found that the program was an immersive experience in which the interns, through various site visits to different companies, were able to see how the principles they were studying in the classroom translated into the world of business. He also appeared on the Acton Institute’s podcast alongside a fellow intern to talk about his experience during the internship, reflecting on the past three months spent utilizing philosophical and ethical principles in a for-profit setting. (See player, above.)

“I think, most of all, I learned how to apply more of the TAC outlook to the business sector,” John says.  “I can now come back and say what's actually going on and how we can reframe things to reflect the underlying truths and principles.”