Summer Internship

Whitney M.

June 23, 2009 - 4:00 PM

I dropped my dad off at the airport in Sacramento and turned on my GPS-heading straight to the office on June 22, 2009. When I pulled up, I had to figure out parking in my dad's expensive car, but I did so successfully, and found the door to the nice, but small, brick building where my internship would take place. I approached the door and turned the handle to find myself locked out. When I saw the bell, I rang it and immediately, the door buzzed and let me in. The first girl I saw was not as cheerful as I like to see a receptionist (although it is not my career goal, I think I would make a good receptionist). However, when I introduced myself, she recognized me as though she was expecting me and showed me to the boss's assistant, Nellie.

Nellie was very forthcoming and kind. She showed me around and made me feel very welcome, and handed me a map with names so that I could remember what we discussed. When I got back to my desk, a cheerful woman started discussing production with me. It is her job to create samples of services we provide clients to present to them before they decide on a final project. I spent the rest of the day physically cutting and pasting high-quality prints of future projects while discussing the design and content with Debbie as we worked. An older man sits in the office with me, and he is the father of one of the business owners, David Townsend. Emery Townsend plays solitaire and occasionally assists with accounting practices, but having him in the office is very nice.

I quickly learned how applicable my journalism major is to this kind of work. Producing publications is a large part of political consulting because they produce materials that are sent out to promote our clients. I moved my car about 4 times throughout the day because parking is in 2-hour increments, and I got to walk a few blocks around Sacramento, which is really quite nice so far. I keep realizing that this is like spending two months in Salem-which is not that appealing, but I think that Sacramento is more exciting because it is the capital of one of the largest states in our country, and thus, very influential.

This internship will be fantastic for me because I have been worried about the media industries in the current economy and with all of the changing technologies. This work is a staple of society because government, and its officials, needs representation, and that is what we do. Seeing that my degree can apply and serve me well in areas other than newspaper is a great lesson to learn. Not only is this a great opportunity for someone in a journalism field, but it can be extremely profitable if you work hard and are successful-both of which I hope to do.

I am also happy to be in such a new and different place. Being here allows me to discover new things about myself as a person and as an employee. Today, I had to wrestle with a printer for about 45 minutes because the paper jammed 3 times. But I was able to figure out all of the inner workings of the appliance and get the job done without quitting or making someone else solve it. I was so proud of myself for being one of those problem-solving employees. That is not to say that I didn't have any help, but the major breakthroughs came from my diligence, which was a huge self-efficacy builder.

I think that the biggest challenge for me is going to be not taking things personally. Mr. Townsend is not very warm and fuzzy, and he didn't laugh at my jokes-which I find distressing because my sense of humor was something I was counting on as far as getting comfortable in the office. But I don't think that Mr. Townsend has anything against me. I just think he has a different sense of humor-or different personality, which is okay. I will need to know how to operate with people who are different from me, so I am sure that the experience will be good for me.

Another challenge is that I am off to somewhat of a slow start. I have done a couple of tasks, but overall, the work is kind of slow. But I better bite my tongue because soon enough I am going to have more work than I know what to do with. The good news, though, is that the work is not rocket science, and I am becoming more sure that I will be able to complete the work before me.

The orientation that I received upon arrival has been magnificent. The people have been very welcoming, accommodating, helpful, and fun. I learned quickly when I was given instructions, and I think that my supervisors appreciated that. I feel confident at the office, and I know that I have resources if I don't understand something. I can tell that working for Townsend, Raimundo, Besler & Usher will not only be educational, but a window into the benefits of working for a well-organized company.