Kelly Lundquist
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reflections ---------------
While the actual duties of the internship have taught me the fundamentals of basic public relations, what I have learned about my career ambitions and our modern workplace will benefit me for much longer. First, the importance of a network is absolutely essential. Within the first two weeks of arriving in New York, I was so thankful I choose a Big Ten school like Michigan State. By going to alumni networking and social events, I have gained a great group of friends and each carrying their own network of job connections.
More importantly however, I learned that I need my career to mean something to me. While this may sound simple, I realized that working in generic public relations does not satisfy my career goals. To say I need to change the world may be an overstatement; I now know that I want to be contributing to something meaningful and current- to be participating in a dialogue that is relevant to our changing society. As such, I think I can say I have an idea of where I want my career to go for the first time. While I am still not sure if I would rather work in politics or for a corporation, I think being an organization’s press secretary would provide the ideal, real-world balance to combine my varied academic interests.
To pursue this, I am planning on doing a variety of things between now and next May when I graduate. First, while I am still in New York this summer, I want to work on expanding my network. By networking at events, with friends, and applying for jobs that I have interest in, I hope to better my chances of being able to move to New York, or another big city, when I graduate in May. When I get back to East Lansing, I plan on applying for an internship with a political consulting firm in Lansing. I feel that working in some sort of agency setting would be a good way to bridge this internship experience with the idea of working in the political realm. This is something I want to discover before I graduate. I am also enrolled in a crisis communication class for this upcoming fall. If I find this line of specialty public relations interesting, it would be a more focused, relevant, and lucrative career available in both an agency and in-house opportunities.
Overall, I am so thankful that James Madison provides its students with the opportunity to take a semester and intern. The opportunities and experiences that I have been presented with over the past semester have been both life changing and clarifying when I think about my next step when I graduate. I look forward to finishing my Michigan State University education and to dive into the real world for real, especially after the practice run that this semester has given me.
More importantly however, I learned that I need my career to mean something to me. While this may sound simple, I realized that working in generic public relations does not satisfy my career goals. To say I need to change the world may be an overstatement; I now know that I want to be contributing to something meaningful and current- to be participating in a dialogue that is relevant to our changing society. As such, I think I can say I have an idea of where I want my career to go for the first time. While I am still not sure if I would rather work in politics or for a corporation, I think being an organization’s press secretary would provide the ideal, real-world balance to combine my varied academic interests.
To pursue this, I am planning on doing a variety of things between now and next May when I graduate. First, while I am still in New York this summer, I want to work on expanding my network. By networking at events, with friends, and applying for jobs that I have interest in, I hope to better my chances of being able to move to New York, or another big city, when I graduate in May. When I get back to East Lansing, I plan on applying for an internship with a political consulting firm in Lansing. I feel that working in some sort of agency setting would be a good way to bridge this internship experience with the idea of working in the political realm. This is something I want to discover before I graduate. I am also enrolled in a crisis communication class for this upcoming fall. If I find this line of specialty public relations interesting, it would be a more focused, relevant, and lucrative career available in both an agency and in-house opportunities.
Overall, I am so thankful that James Madison provides its students with the opportunity to take a semester and intern. The opportunities and experiences that I have been presented with over the past semester have been both life changing and clarifying when I think about my next step when I graduate. I look forward to finishing my Michigan State University education and to dive into the real world for real, especially after the practice run that this semester has given me.
