Intern Kathryn and project coordinator Christy share a laugh.
This is a guest post written by Kathryn Berg, a summer 2011 public relations intern at Flint Communications.
Home from Georgetown for summer break, I nervously arrived at Flint for my first-day orientation. My experience that day hinted that an internship at Flint was something special. Touring the office, I didn’t feel like an intern at all. People didn’t ask me to get coffee for them—they asked me to get coffee with them. We all knew I’d be going back to school at summer’s end, but everyone still made me feel like a true Flintster, from my very first day onwards.
I had no idea what went on in the PR world, but figured that didn’t matter because I would only be doing “grunt work” anyway. I was wrong. My mentor, Melissa, set me to work on day one promoting Special Olympics, and my assignments became progressively more involved as the weeks continued and I learned more.
What I’ve learned
As it turns out, my basic knowledge of PR mixed with Melissa’s astute guidance was enough for me to grow, learn and succeed. Today, I can confidently draw up a mean spreadsheet, pitch a story to an editor, build smart media lists and track down just about anything on the internet. My biggest achievement as a shy girl: I can now talk to just about anyone on the phone without my hands shaking!
This internship has taught me countless lessons about public relations, and I am sincerely grateful to have learned more about the field with which I’ve become so enamored. There are so many different aspects to what goes on at Flint that I was eager to go to work every day to find out what new thing I would discover about PR. (Never in my life have I woken up before 7 a.m. and been pleased about it, until this summer!)
As much as I’ve learned about Flint and public relations, I’ve learned so much more about myself. This summer has pushed me to become more confident, more outgoing and more self-assured. I’m no longer worried about what to do when I graduate this spring, which is a seriously exciting development! I stumbled into a field that I really love, and I (almost) can’t wait until I graduate and can dive back in.
If I could change anything about this internship, I can honestly say that I would have wanted to spend more time here. Public relations is all about relationships, and building strong relationships takes time—much more time than a summer internship offers. But, with the time I did have, I was able to get my feet wet and learn the basics.