This summer, I spent nine weeks in New York City as a marketing intern at a real-estate and technology startup. In the first week of my internship, I feared that I wouldn’t be able to add any value at the company. I had not yet been given much work to do,  and I imagined myself having one of those internships you hear about where you just pretend to look busy the whole summer. I soon realized that those fears were unfounded. On the contrary, I was given very significant projects that had a big impact for the company, and I learned a whole lot from each one.

My first major project was to create a calendar system via Calendly for potential clients to sign up for a call with our Client Success team. At first, I thought the task would be a breeze as I had worked with Calendly before and it seemed easy enough. I soon realized the complexity of the task, as I had to integrate multiple members of the teams into one calendar. I also began to encounter some technical issues. Nevertheless, I eventually figured out how to make the system work. My success with this first project gave me confidence that I could troubleshoot when problems arise, and deliver on what was asked of me.

For my second project, I was asked to create and execute an engagement plan, using  Textus software, to reach out to over 2,000 users who had signed up for our website in the past month but had not spoken with Client Success nor been assigned to one of the company agents. At the start of the project, I was given very few guidelines, and was uncertain how to proceed. I ultimately learned to reach out for help and ask appropriate questions when necessary. In the end, I was able to present the Marketing team with data demonstrating the success of conducting outreach to previous signups. The company plans to implement this method as part of their Marketing lead generation process.

My largest project of the summer was to perform a social media audit and create a social media strategy for the four social media accounts of the company. The project culminated in a presentation to the leadership of the company. At first I was intimidated by the complexity of the project, and questioned whether I was qualified for the task. I started by conducting research on social media strategy, found and followed directions on how to complete a social media audit, and  sought insight from members of the Marketing department. Even though I performed the tasks I believed to be right, I was fearful that the leadership team would be unimpressed with my work or that I would not be able to give them the information they were looking for. I was greatly relieved by the positive feedback I received after my presentation, and I realized that my social media skills really made a difference for the company.

One of the most significant lessons I learned from my internship is what a difference good management makes. The management in the Marketing department made me feel appreciated, supported and valued. As they gained confidence in my work, they gave me increasingly significant projects to perform, which in turn boosted my confidence and helped me do my best work. As my career progresses and I have the opportunity to manage others, I hope to apply the lessons I learned about good management from the Marketing department.

This summer, I am interning in Marketing at a real-estate startup in the heart of Manhattan. When I first learned of my internship offer, I was extremely excited by the opportunity to be immersed in the urban business world for the first time in my life.

Soon after arriving in New York, I discovered that my daily routine was dramatically different than my routine in Claremont. Instead of walking five minutes to class, I walk about half a mile to the subway and then take about a 10 minute subway ride to my office. In addition to my longer commute, the vast number of people in New York is a sharp contrast to quiet, suburban Claremont. And rather than simply heading to the dining hall for meals, I have to think about where and what to eat that will be nutritious and fit my intern budget.

After completing a week and a half of my internship, I am also struck by the strong contrast between the academic and business environments. One of my first assignments at my internship was to create a personality resume including anything I deem important about myself that would not be on a typical resume such as grades, leadership activities, academic accomplishments, or awards. Rather, the personality resume was meant to focus on my personality, strengths, and unique attributes. I found two aspects of this assignment challenging. As I have been evaluated and rated quantitatively through grades and tests scores for the majority of my life, I found it difficult to truly define my unique attributes. In addition, I struggled initially due to the lack of guidelines for the assignment. The manager intentionally provided minimal guidelines so that the structure, style, and content of my personality resume would reflect my personality. After adhering to strict and specific instructions from a syllabus for so many years, it was hard to channel my creativity to create my personality resume.

After a few hours of trial and error, I came to accept the purposeful lack of structure in this assignment, take advantage of the opportunity to truly understand aspects of myself beyond grades and awards, and enjoy not having to follow a syllabus. I was able to explore different infographics to represent myself and different layouts to demonstrate my unique attributes. In my personality resume, I was able to highlight my bi-coastal identity, love of drones, ESFJ personality, strengths, and short and long-term goals.

Now that I have become more used to the striking contrast between New York and Claremont and the business and academic worlds, I can fully appreciate that having the opportunity to experience both environments is helping me to develop a stronger sense of my own personality, and get a better sense of the living and working environment that I will best enjoy once I finish college.