Oh My! The Rush is On!
So I realised I only have written four blog posts – where I thought my most recent post is was my fifth and final one and yeah my mind is so confused. Being at the end of semester when all the big assignments are due (I seriously think all the staff members have a meeting before semester starts and plans to make our lives extra difficult by making everything due at the same time…. grrrr) and your mind is slowly (or shall I say rapidly) transitioning to holiday mode, things start getting jumbled in one’s head – case in point me, right now.
So far I think this semester I have been pretty successful at juggling two internships and uni full time – but there are a few recurring things that my supervisors have said to me – write things down and don’t rely on your brain. Case in point – right now as we speak – I should have written down a lot of things because I swear my brain is acting like a colander – everything seems to escape through the cracks!
What I found whilst I was at my internship, I realised PR is nothing like what we are led to believe it is in the classroom, but I think it is industry specific… Interning at a school – there is a 99.9% chance of not having a full on crisis or that there are numerous issues sprouting up here and there… it is an industry where very few things can go wrong, and with the slightest detection of a potential issue, it is resolved right at the nub. What I have learnt, however is the little nitty gritty things that one would think after all these years of education, one would assume that we all have it down pat! Things like writing things down, or jotting notes when your supervisor gives you a list of things to do or as simple as taking the initiative to make a move that would benefit you – all of these things we assume we have already mastered, but in my case, apparently not.
Overall, my experiences as an intern have been wide and varied, but I have no regrets (ok maybe a few, but lets not relive them) – but like I mentioned at the beginning of my blogs, we are here to learn and it never hurts to make a mistake or ten.
As long as you learn from them, and not repeat them again!
No Point Thinking, What If? Learn From Your Mistakes
So I have been MIA for the past few weeks, or is it months, because I have written four blog posts and it seems as though every week I am just doing the same things and I am not learning any new things… I have reached a plateau.
Of course being at the end of the uni semester, I have gotten back my feedback from my supervisor and the only criticism/comment/piece of advice was that I should be more confident my abilities as I have a lot of potential and also take initiative. Of course when you are an intern, you are supposed to be there to learn, but at the same time, you also want to remain respectful to your supervisors and try to minimise the amount of ‘bugging them’ or ‘offending them’ wit their supervising/mentoring style. Hence, (in my case) tend to just suck it up and go with the flow (and vent it out all here) – but deep down, I know it is my own fault.
Writing the report for this unit (the one that is worth 70% of my grade) has made me realise all the opportunities that my supervisors have left this ‘window’ for me to grab, where I could have taken to enhance my placement at Santa Maria. Of course, due to my damn upbringing and the manners that have been instilled into me, I am just way too polite to ask and take those opportunities to enhance my placement. This is the part I realised, there is no point in thinking what if I took those opportunities; yes it would have made my report easier to write, and yes I would have gained more out of it, but whats the point of overthinking about all of these things, when what is done, is done?
I guess the only solution to this is to learn from one’s mistakes and in my case, go forth and take more initiative to take things will benefit yourself and your career. It is funny to think that this work placement experience has not only gave me a taste of what the industry is going to be like – which I am definitely looking forward to actively participate in it, but also life skills learnt from mistakes made as well, and to me – that is priceless.
Collaborative Learning…. and Managing One’s Time
It has been a while since the last time I wrote a blog post for my internship… Honestly, it seems almost a cliche to say, but I have honestly been so busy trying to juggle interning and uni at the same time. Especially when I had my PRPE assignment due on Week 4 and I had a huge list of tasks that I had to do for my internship, I have to be honest, blogging about my internship and what I have learnt and experienced so far seems to be moved down my priority list (for obvious reasons).
After five or so weeks at Santa, my role seems to have been firmly established: I am the person who goes out and about to take images and or film footage around the school and then place them into the right areas on Sharepoint and take a few out for a Facebook/Instagram post and then a few others into the Weekly Wrap-Up. Having around 7 to 8 interns on rotation, work is spread out amongst us, meaning everyone gets their own role that focuses on our key strengths. Personally, I kind of find this a somewhat flawed as we are not pushed past our comfort zones and forced to learn new skills that would better prepare us for the work force. I feel as though our supervisors allocate the roles that we can do quickly and efficiently, just to get the work done faster.
In saying that, I am slowly grasping the hang of editing images on Photoshop and starting to dabble in Adobe Premiere Pro, but being a typical Apple user, I find Adobe frustratingly and unnecessarily complex for its own good, but alas I am learning. The funny thing is, I am not learning how to use Adobe through Youtube, or my supervisor, but actually through another intern. I personally find learning through another person who is around the same age as me, and explains it in layman terms as well as being patient, a lot more easier, rather than learning through my supervisor standing over my shoulder, almost impatiently ordering me along.
In saying so, I kind of feel as my experiences at my internship are stagnating and reaching a plateau and despite the fact that I am learning a lot and also have the luxury to play around with fancy equipment on the daily, I feel as though my enthusiasm to learn and the willingness to push my comfort zones is not being taken advantage of. I guess this is one of the many downsides of having too many interns at one place all doing very similar roles.
Being some what of a downer, to a post, I will end it here, for now and hope the new week will bring some more excitement to me at Santa.
“There is no point in interning if you already know everything”
I haven’t posted in two weeks – because, honestly nothing much has happened. I have settled in comfortably into my role – it is almost like another quirky mishmash of a hodgepodge of a family in the Community Relations Department or is it the Communications Department (I never get it right, yet I have to pass by the sign at least 10 times a day!). I have been learning how to use Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator – and let me tell you I definitely prefer Canva! I have also learnt how to work a DSLR camera and the numerous add ons that one can choose from, but once again, I am all about that iPhone camera and VSCO app and Instagram filters. Life is too short to be overcomplicated by a bazillion different minute tools that drive your head in (I am looking at you Adobe, why you make things so hard?!?!?!), but overall I am really enjoying at my internship so far.
One of the big things that I have learnt in my internship thus far is that it is ok to make mistakes and stuff up. As what my supervisor said, it is obviously excellent that one would never make mistakes or that things get done efficiently and in a timely manner, but the whole point of interning or life in general is in order to learn, one must make mistakes. There is no point in partaking in an internship if you already know everything, because if that is the case, you are not taking advantage of the opportunity given.
So you must be wondering, I obviously have made a mistake in my three weeks of interning, and my answer is, yes, I have.
Long story short, I accidentally inserted a SD card into the wrong hole of the iMac (the old school ones where they still have an optical drive slot, that is directly above the SD card slot). I panicked and I didn’t tell my supervisor, fearing that I would be yelled at, or even worse, fired. So I decided to take the matter in my own hands and try and resolve the issue myself where I went to the IT department and hoped that someone would be there to help me fix it, but of course, the guy who had the tools to get it done was not there on that day. Then the IT department told me not to touch it even more, but guess what, I did and made it worse. Sigh. Then I had no choice but to tell my supervisor what happened, and her response, was to laugh at me because she thought it was so funny that I went to all that trouble to try and resolve the issue on my own and act as though nothing had happened.
That was when she offered me the advice that I will take to heart.
Moral of the story – just be upfront and it is ok to make mistakes because we are all here to learn.
False Starts, Shoeicide and Chaos (not really, but let’s go with that)
I just want to preface this blog post with a WARNING: I am very long winded and detailed and tend to ramble a bit – I know this first blog is going to be very long (maybe over 2000 words or so) so get something warm to drink (or alcoholic), snuggle up and enjoy (hopefully)!
Part One
Ever since I had switched courses from Architecture to Marketing and PR, I have been made aware of the perils of the PR Internship Unit by a number of my friends who went down the same path as me and told me to start looking as soon as possible for potential placements from the get go. They told me nightmare stories of us fellow students being taken advantage of as ‘slave labour’ in and around the office or other people who couldn’t even get a placement and thus pushed back their graduation date by a semester. This unit was one where I was not looking forward to – due to the amount of bad rep the unit had obtained and my impressions of it was not a good one.
That was back in the end of 2014/2015. Fast forward to Semester One of 2017.
I had taken the advice of my friends and tried to find potential internship opportunities to no avail. I decided to give up and just focus on the other million things that I had on my plate, and true to typical to uni fashion, just procrastinated on it until the first semester of 2017. On the first half of the semester I was still on cruise control just going through the processes of settling back into uni life, but it dawned on me during the study break that if I wanted to complete the internship unit in the second semester of 2017 I would need to start looking – fast. For some odd reason I work well under pressure and I set myself a goal that by the end of the semester I should be all lined up with an internship in place ready to complete during the winter break.
Like the majority of us I joined the PR Internship Unit group on Facebook and started paying attention to the potential opportunities that were popping up. One day I noticed a listing that tickled my fancy, shall we say. A potential internship with Professionals Ultimate – Architecture background (check), Marketing and PR orientated (check) – I thought this would be perfect for me as I had somewhat of the unique skillset that would potentially help me if I get the internship. So off I went writing up a cover letter and also an impressionable opening email as well as my resume, of course, I sent it off.
I was so excited when Peter replied back to me (within half an hour), but when reading his response, red flags started popping up. He had immediately offered me the placement without even calling me to talk to me over the phone, let alone setting up an interview of sorts. Looking back, I knew I should have backed out at that moment because I have been in situations where even the most menial of prospective opportunities in the professional workplace required a few rounds of interviews at least. Of course, stupid me did not follow my gut instincts and happily accepted it – thinking I would not get other better opportunities and just get this unit over and done with.
Never have I thought overthinking and some online stalking, erhm, investigating, would help me make the right choice.
As I was completing the modules and filling out the forms needed, I was also looking at where I was working and also who my supervisor, Peter was and what his qualifications and credentials were, etc. and who else would I be working with whilst completing my internship. Picture a bazillion red flags popping up all around you with gigantic signs saying “ABORT, ABORT” or “ABORT MISSION” in say all the languages spoken around the world. I should have listened, but did I? No. I didn’t have any back ups and I had already filled in my forms and at the same time I didn’t want to burn any bridges – as we all know Perth is a very small place.
So I sent in my application for Bridget’s approval.
In the meantime, I was cold calling, the what, 7 or so Marketing and PR firms in Perth and inquiring about any potential internship opportunities that they may have and a few flatly said no (rudely too, mind you), and a few were unsure, but told me to forward them my ‘application’ of sorts and see what they could do. A few places got back to me saying they do offer internships, but unfortunately, they were just filled and they were at capacity already and unfortunately couldn’t take me on, and some went cold. Whatever. At least I tried, right?
Anyway, I went back to stalking the group on Facebook and found a repeated listing at Santa Maria College. At the time that sounded appealing and I thought, what the hell, what harm would happen if I applied? So I went through the processes of writing my cover letter, an impressionable email and added my resume and applied, not thinking much of it, and continued looking.
By now I was getting really worried and stressed out as it was nearing the end of semester and exams were rapidly approaching – and I was now enrolled in the unit with no placement in sight.
The following week, I got an email back from Karen, my would be supervisor at Santa Maria, asking whether or not I had the time to go in and have a chat. I was elated as my futile attempts to find other potential placements, bore no fruit. However, her proposed date conflicted with my exam timetable, so naturally we had to organise the meeting to another date.
I am going to fast forward a little bit here and recap – a bit, because if I am getting bored of my own ramblings, I bet whoever is reading this would probably be falling asleep by now! So long story short, I had gotten a really good vibe from Santa Maria, a lot better than my first option, and, I got the spot! So yes, I treated myself for getting a better placement at a reputable institution. Yay me!
You would think this is the end of Part One of my recount of how I landed my placement at Santa Maria, right? I too would have bloody hope so too, but no. There’s more. About a couple days later (I had already filed and paid for my Police Clearance and Working with Children checks as well as sending out another approval form to Bridget and also respectfully pulled out of my prior placement with Professionals Ultimate – because I tend to move quick on things, plus I was having uni withdrawals and had nothing to do and was already bored, I am rambling again, sorry), I got an email. Do you want to have a guess who that email was from?
I got a response back from one of the Marketing and PR firms after I had cold called them a couple weeks ago. The managing director of that firm was offering me a placement and asked when I could start *face palm*. Plus this firm does not typically offer internships *flips the desk*. Did I mention, they offered me a rare opportunity to intern for them? No. Well read that sentence ten times over as I jump off a cliff. I mean for the life of me, I started with zero offers or opportunities and now I was faced with three offers that were progressively better than one another – I mean arrrggghhhhhhh!
You might be wondering whether or not I pulled out of my placement with Santa Maria and went with the third option? In an ideal world, I would have done it within a heartbeat, but already feeling guilty of pulling out of one, and despite already knowing that I would be going to hell anyway, and chilling with Satan in my afterlife, I would have felt even more guilty if I pulled out of a Catholic school. I am exaggerating here, but I didn’t want the nun’s and priests at the school to do some voodoo on me for the sin that I have committed of pulling out of that placement to a life of eternal bad luck. I mean I already have enough bad luck and didn’t want any more and they’d probably banish me to chill with Satan’s evil cousin in my afterlife – for this transgression.
So the moral of the story, always believe in your gut, never give up and also, keep your options open.
This is the end of Part One of my blog post. I am going to go to intermission here and let y’all have a toilet break, stretch your legs, do whatever before I get into Part Two – the first week of my internship.
Part Two
So I assume y’all have taken good advantage of the intermission and are all fresh and bright for the second part of my blog post? Yes? Oui? Si? Ok, let’s get crackin’
It was discussed that I start my internship when all the kiddies start their third term of school. So I had about two weeks off to relax and prepare for my placement at Santa Maria. Naturally, I prepared for this by watching the Sound of Music (because you know nuns) and then Angels and Demons, followed by The Da Vinci Code (because you know religion and stuff) and also a documentary about sinkholes, because, why not?
The night before I was due to start my internship I went to bed early (around midnight), but you know when you are so excited you can’t fall asleep – that happened to me and I didn’t manage to fall asleep till around 1.30am (the last time I checked the time before I fell asleep). I woke up the next morning bright and early a 7am sharp and got ready for my first day of my internship. I left my house at 8am and got on my way to Santa Maria. Nothing that exciting, yada, yada. I forgot to mention this was on a Monday, being the first day of term and a private school, I assumed that Santa Maria would have done things differently i.e. the kiddies there would start school on a different date to the normal schools (the temptation to call normal schools, peasant schools is strong here, but alas). Plus I haven’t formally step foot into a school in five years, so I was rusty on how things are done. Long story short, Santa Maria followed the normal school system and Monday was pupil free day and I was supposed to start the next day. So I had a false start and ended up going home.
So, on my actual first day (Tuesday) after the pleasantries, the introductions, the school tour, etc. I got straight into work after being assigned my desk and iMac (ps. the mouse is horrendous #firstworldproblems). My first ever ‘grown up’ job assignment was to redesign a promotional poster for Santa Maria’s Annual Father-Daughter Camp. Of course due to the fact that there are pictures of girl’s and their dad’s on the posters, I am not allowed to post it here, but in the picture below, you can see glimpses of it throughout my workspace/work desk picture:
NOTE: I am not sure why the pictures have come out so granular and pixelated. I am too tech challenged to fix them, so sorry about that, but I guess y’all catch my drift.
On the second day of my internship (on Friday) I was assigned to help assemble the welcome packages (the proper name of those packages seems to have escaped my head at present, but I call it the ‘please consider/come to our school’ packs). Here is another picture of my (temporary) workspace down below:
Oh and also did I not mention that we get morning tea everyday, but us cool kids in the Communication Department are too cool to hang out and mingle with the school teachers… Well, on Fridays, apparently we make an appearance to participate in the morning tea. I was legit shook when EVERY table in the staff room had this on offer… for FREE! Thank goodness the school also has a fully equipped gym because I would be needing it if I participate in the morning tea more often!
Aaaannnnndddddddddd I haven’t even talked about the best part yet… The staff room has the best views ever! Even if the day was cloudy, the view was still to die for (of course only newbies like me would appreciate it as it seems all the students and staff couldn’t care less)
Anyway, other duties that I have done during the first week included getting familiarised with the plethora of programs used and the protocol for uploading pictures onto the school database as well as other things. I also got to post a couple pictures (that I assisted on taking) on Santa Maria’s Facebook page on my first day there as well as make the ‘Weekly Wrap Up’ video that is posted on Instagram (so go check it out @santamariacollege and give it a like! It may be only 30 seconds long, but it took me over an hour to make – so please give it a like for my effort, pleaseeeee and mind as well follow them as well).
This concludes my first week of my internship with Santa Maria College. So far I am really enjoying it, with a few technical hiccups (on my part, because I am so technologically challenged), but with time I am sure that I am able to grasp numerous protocols required of me!
Till next week!
Adieus!
ps. Never wear unbroken in shoes that are three years old in a time where you know you are going to walk a lot because I committed shoeicide on my false start day and have been suffering ever since. So not worth it/10