Summer internship reflection: 834 design & marketing

Being an intern is a unique experience. Every day you are inspired, humbled and learn something new. Over the summer I was fortunate to be an intern at 834 Design & Marketing. While being an intern, I was working 50 hours a week in addition to the hours I put in at 834 Design & Marketing. Undeterred, they took me in and worked with my haphazard schedule so that I could be there two or three days a week, even if only for a few hours. Those few hours every week led to more knowledge and experiences than I had received thus far during my college career. That’s the beauty of an internship. You go in thinking you know something and you’re promptly reminded you’re a student of the industry with much left to learn

Throughout the summer I was pushed in new ways to improve my writing skills. Writing has always been a passion of mine and a skill I’ve consistently been confident about. Being an intern brought me down to Earth that I still have much to learn. At 834 Design & Marketing I was fortunate to begin to learn what technical writing is. I was given tasks to write blogs on subjects I knew absolutely nothing about. Not only were my posts supposed to be knowledgeable, but I was writing to represent experts in their field. No pressure, right? Despite the daunting task, it taught me how to manipulate my voice in my writing to match the speaker and the audience, I learned how to research efficiently for my writing and it also taught me to fake it until I made it. No one was going to know I just recently learned about this topic if my research and writing was thorough enough.

Not surprisingly, there’s more to an internship than learning skills of the trade. No one will deny, improving your skills is a huge part of it, but that’s not everything. One of the biggest takeaways from my summer internship is that I have to appear confident. It doesn’t matter if I feel confident on the inside, if I don’t appear confident on the outside it will be difficult for people to trust in by abilities and assign me more responsibilities. Furthermore, I learned the value of asking questions. Asking questions is an art form. You see, you only get so many questions before you become a nuisance. You don’t want to waste these questions on something that is common sense based or could be solved with a quick Google search. Give value to your questions, make them count! It’s alright to ask for help, just make sure you’re giving yourself a chance to learn to swim on your own before you ask for assistance.

This summer I learned more than I could have ever imagined. I wrote more press releases than I have during my time in school. Let’s be honest, overall I wrote more than I have during my time in school. I learned that if you aren’t willing to work hard and take constructive criticism that this industry might not be for you. I also learned the value of having coworkers who have a passion that burns so bright you’re inspired, even when you feel like you’ll never make it. I learned more than I could ever share on single blog post. You’ll know exactly what I mean if you’ve had an internship similar to mine. If you have or haven’t interned yet, go forth and intern. Learn as much as you can. Volunteer for more work and opportunities. The beauty of interning in college is you can push yourself to learn more, improve your performance and develop new skills, all while in a [fairly] save environment. If you mess up you might get a proper scolding or lose out on a letter of recommendation, but realistically, that’s a pretty great worst case scenario. Use your time in college to accept great internships where you’re set up to learn an invaluable amount of knowledge, make connections, and to become a valuable asset to the industry. I was fortunate that my internship revealed to me what I wanted to be when I grow up. Who knows what your internship will teach you. 

Ashley is a senior seeking a degree in Advertising & Public Relations. Prior to returning to school, Ashley took 3 years off to adventure around the country learning from members of the United States Olympic 3-Day Eventing Team. These travels led to a lot of fun stories, an addiction to sweet-tea, and a relentless passion to pursue her goals. Additionally Ashley is a member of GV-PRSSA, is on the executive board for the ODK Honor Society, & is an account associate at Grand PR. 
Currently Ashley is a technical writer and social media manager at 834 Design & Marketing while also working as a Digital Marketing & Public Relations Manager for Ecogold Equestrian Textiles. In her free time Ashley can usually be found out in Rockford, where she keeps her two horses: Donatello (named after the turtle, not the artist) & Valhalla (No, she’s hasn’t watched vikings, she’s just a nerd). Despite a busy schedule, she competes in the sport of 3-day eventing on a national level and gets the opportunities to chase all her dreams. Ashley’s interest in sports is not limited to horses, as she is an avid football, basketball, and hockey fan. When not at the barn, she can be found at a local brewery, consuming absurd amounts of coffee, or enjoying a good book.