Fueling the future: 70 interns gain real-world experience at BNSF

By SAM HASWELL 
Staff Writer 

At BNSF, we know our future success depends on the talent we cultivate today. This summer, we welcomed 70 interns from 50 universities across the country – each bringing ideas, new perspectives and a passion for learning.  

Spread across 16 different departments, these interns didn’t just observe, they contributed. From engineering to marketing to bnsf | tech, they gained hands-on experience while also providing value-added work to advance our mission. 

As we recognize National Intern Day on July 31, let’s meet a few of them and learn about what makes them special: 

Alexander Walker – Cal State Fullerton 

Alexander Walker served as an intern in our transportation department in San Bernadino, California. He attends Cal State Fullerton as a business administration information systems major, and this internship was the realization of a childhood dream. 

Growing up in Southern California, Walker would often take pictures of BNSF trains approaching the Cajon Pass. One day, Locomotive Engineer Ed Tumbas noticed Walker taking pictures of the BNSF business cars in San Bernardino. Tumbas struck up a conversation with him and invited him to join the Employee Appreciation Special while it was in Southern California. Walker gladly accepted and during that journey, Tumbas planted the seeds of curiosity and wonder for Walker to consider a career in the railroad industry. Fast forward two years, and Walker has just completed an internship with BNSF and hopes to return after graduation. 

For Walker, every day as an intern featured a different task. He helped conduct field research and visited partner shortline railroads. His favorite experience was the interaction he had with operations team members at our San Bernardino intermodal hub.  

“The opportunity given to interns is unmatched and taking the time to learn about this industry has been fascinating,” Walker said.  

Cheyenne Hittle – Washburn University 

Cheyenne Hittle served as an intern in our finance department in Topeka, Kansas. She’s a junior at Washburn University pursuing a double major in accounting and data analytics.  

While serving at BNSF this summer, Hittle helped recreate a Python code to match the existing mainframe process. For Hittle, one of the most important things she learned is to “Put yourself out there.” She also stressed the importance of seeking opportunities to speak in front of others.  

Luke Miller – Colorado State University 

Luke Miller was an intern for our transportation department, serving in Denver, Colorado. He’ll be a senior at Colorado State University and is majoring in supply chain management.  

Miller said he learned a lot about the many different tasks involved in keeping our trains running safely and efficiently. He shadowed trainmasters, toured mechanical operations, rode along with train crews and helped with ops testing.  

Along with gaining a comprehensive understanding of how the rail industry works, he got the chance to network with people across the system.  

“This hands-on experience really allowed me to get a way better understanding of the industry,” Miller said. “In addition, my trips around my division taught me that people are what power this company, and that relationships matter.” 

Amy Hu – Appalachian State University 

Amy Hu worked as an intern in our human resources department this summer. She worked on projects within areas such as compensation management and talent development.  

“The projects I worked on were all different in content, so I was able to get a range of different experiences,” Hu said. “I appreciated getting the opportunity to hone my skills in the areas of problem solving, developing creative solutions to challenges and also learning to work with different leadership styles.”   

She was also able to build upon her communications skillset through weekly updates with project supervisors, requesting information from other BNSF team members and presenting high-level overviews to leaders.  

To all our interns across the network, thank you for your hard work! 

Editor’s Note: This article was written by Sam Haswell, an intern in our corporate relations department. Haswell is a student at Texas Christian University majoring in both Sports Broadcasting and Strategic Communications. Haswell wrote articles for internal and external publication and assisted with our annual employee photo calendar contest.