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This morning, I woke up feeling very excited because it was the first day of our site visits. At 8:30 am, we gathered in the hotel lobby to take the shuttle to the first company: Salesforce. We arrived at the Salesforce tower, currently the tallest building in San Francisco since 2018. (Fun fact: While I am writing this blog post, I can see the tower from my hotel room. It is crazy to think I was up there earlier today.) We signed in at the front desk and soon Kiana Parker, an executive assistant at Salesforce, came down to welcome us. Soon after that, we met Loyola alum Joe Poch, who gave us a tour of several floors in the Salesforce tower. We took the elevator to the 61st floor. The view was incredible. There was a barista bar and lots of seating where some employees would work. The interior design of the tower was very cool, especially the fact that there are no assigned offices drew my attention. Finally, we did a Q&A with Joe Poch, Kiana Parker, and all the way from Chicago, Loyola alum Brittney Marshall. 

Around 11:00 am, we went to get lunch as a group and explored more of the financial district. I really enjoyed walking around this part of the city, especially the Salesforce Park. After our lunch break, it was time to go to the second company, Frec. A small startup, very different from Salesforce. It was an office with a very cool industrial design. Loyola alum Ashley Rodabaugh, who is president at Frec, showed us the office and gave a presentation on the company together with Dimitri Rodrigo. I learned a lot about startups, for example, some crucial soft skills like flexibility and not being afraid of change. After we got all our questions answered, it was time to go back to the hotel. We had some time to recharge and get ready for dinner at Original Joe’s where I had a great pasta carbonara. We had a lot of fun as a group and had the opportunity to reflect upon our first day of site visits. 

Looking back at this day, I would say that it was a very successful day. I learned so much already which is very promising for the rest of our time here in San Francisco. Meeting Loyola alumni was amazing because we all share the same Loyola college experience. Therefore, I am looking forward to tomorrow when we are going to meet even more Loyola alumni at the alumni reception.