Internship Reflection: My Advice To You
As I reach the end of my junior year, there are a couple of thoughts that seem to constantly circulate through my mind. Where did this semester go? How is it already summer? Didn’t it just snow yesterday? Am I seriously going into my final year of college this coming fall? WHEN did I get so OLD?
My time at Grand Valley, so far, has been three of the best and most hectic years of my life. One of the best parts has been the opportunity to get more involved and more experienced within my field of Public Relations. And in the next couple of days, I will be wrapping up my internship with a wonderful Grand Rapid’s-based nonprofit: Family Futures. For the past semester, I served as their Marketing Intern, and I can honestly say that I learned a lot. In the spirit of camaraderie, I would like the share pieces of advice I learned along the way.
Your CAP 220 textbook cant and wont prepare you for everything
Someone had to say it. What we learn in the classroom is OF COURSE useful, relevant, and 100% necessary- there is really only so much a 2-day a week classroom lesson can teach you. This is not to discredit a textbook or professor teaching from said textbook, because if I am being completely honest- pretty much everything I know about PR I learned from CAP 220 and my amazing professor (S/O Adrienne Wallace). But the professors will say it themselves: how you truly grow and learn in this field is by DOING. It is by getting your hands dirty, diving in, and giving it everything you got. Whether you are running a social media account, communicating with clients, pitching to the media, or even filling the coffee pot in the break room- there will never be a chapter in a book that fully prepares you for doing it in the real world. Luckily, these classes are designed to give us a strong foundation, and give us the necessary tools to succeed. However, each internship and each company is different and may have different ways of doing things. So it’s up to us to land the internship, learn the ways of the organization, immerse ourselves into the company culture, and do the work that we are assigned.
So my advice? Pay attention in class. Listen to your professor. Take what you can and translate it to your new job or internship. Rock it out.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, but don’t be afraid to try something on your own
While my internship at Family Futures was my third internship, it was my first time working in an office environment. I still remember my first day, full of nerves and excitement. I was assigned to my desk and then given the task to set up my voicemail and print something for my supervisor. Naturally, I couldn’t figure out which printer to print from, which would be in color, which would be double sided, or am I even allowed to use the printers? I learned pretty quickly that sometimes, you just need to pop over to the person next to you and ask for help. Your supervisors are here to help you grow and make sure you succeed. Everyone in the organization, company, or firm is rooting for you. Asking which printer prints in what way wont make you look incompetent, and asking ahead of time will probably save a couple trees from your multiple failed attempts at printing. Or if anything, it is better than sitting there clueless.
On the other hand, while you should never be afraid to ask questions, you should never be afraid to try something on your own. Be proactive. We are at the point in our lives when failure in inevitable, but that same failure helps us to grow and learn in the best ways possible. Not sure how to write something? Give it your best attempt. Run out of things to do for the moment? Come up with some new ideas or get ahead on tomorrow’s work. We should strive to be driven, motivated, and always take the initiative to put in the hard work. In the long run, it will help prepare you for more professional future endeavors. Because as I said, and forever will standby, we learn from giving it our all and actually DOING.
Chantal Shaw is a junior at Grand Valley State University studying Advertising and Public Relations. She is an account associate at GrandPR as well as a member of the public relations organization PRSSA. Chantal is an active member in her sorority, Phi Mu, where she serves on the Executive Board as Membership Director. In her free time, she loves hanging out with her friends, binge-watching Grey's Anatomy, and dancing along to every One Direction song.