Winding Down...

My internship with LACD has truly been an experience that has prepared me for my future career. In our office, we are consistently producing materials that are distributed to an audience of anywhere from 9,000-40,000. This exposure requires polished, thoughtful work that is at a level of professionalism that proudly represents Purdue Liberal Arts and Career Development. Though we do have to get our work approved, our materials represent our office. This is exactly how I envision my future career working, so it has exposed me to this environment in an internship setting. I feel I have learned the process of producing, editing, re-editing, and publishing. I have experienced having to produce work on a very tight deadline, for a variety of marketing opportunities, and in many different forms (email, web page, newsletter, flyers, ect).

I also think I have learned about the office dynamic and what it means to work successfully in a team. In creative fields such as design, public relations, and event planning, there are always going to be different artistic and professional opinions. Through my internship, we are constantly running into situations where interns have to explain or adapt their message to fit the visions of the rest of the group. I will always be working in an environment that requires feedback and team interaction, so I have learned how to compromise and also defend my positions. I have also learned that personalities in an office are varied; there are always different work ethics, opinions, and attitudes. This experience has exposed me to working in a very diverse team and showed me how to adapt my work style to different team members.

I have honed in on my critical thinking skills. In our team, we have run into interesting dilemmas that require thinking outside the box to come up with a solution. One main area I have learned from is communication. In our office, we had an overload of communication. There were times where the email loads were overwhelming, the communication felt invasive, and we were copying in the entire team when it wasn’t necessary. Instead of allowing this communication to continue, I learned to address the issue head on and come up with solutions. We were able to discuss our communication problems and suggest ways to improve. This exposed me to different communication styles and how to compromise.

Now that the semester is ending, we are considering potential interns for next semester. I am really proud of our team and what we have accomplished this fall. We have held several events that set a standard of excellence for our department, and have far surpassed our goals. I hope to continue this path of success next semester and find new ways to challenge our team. I am sad to see this semester's team go, but excited to welcome in our new interns and see what we can accomplish together!