...according to my dad, anyway. Freshman year, I wouldn’t
have agreed with that statement at all (back then, UT was the number one party school in the nation, and I’d like to think I played a pivotal role in helping us earn that
prestigious title). Despite the distractions of Austin, we are taught a "work hard, play hard" mentality. So although an internship didn’t top the list back then, it does now that I’m a senior.
One thing I know for sure is that interning is like going to Vegas — you have to do it sometime, and you want something to brag about when you get home. Interning at Springbox, I get quite a few bragging rights.
Just a few of the perks:
-
It meets my top requirement: I get to wear sandals.
- Cookies. I’ve worked 90 days, and in that time I’ve received 35 emails with subjects along the lines of “Cookies at my desk — get them before they’re gone!” That’s a new set of cookies to select from more than a third of the time I’m here. Trips to Grandma’s house don’t even see that kind of ratio
- Somebody catches you looking up pictures of that one girl from
that one class on Facebook? Just say it’s “market research for a social media campaign” and you’re in the clear.
But all fun and games, it is not. Some of the "harder parts" include the following:
- When I talk about it outside of the office, people are always
getting “Springbox” confused with “Springboks,” the mascot of the national rugby team of South Africa (an easy mistake to make).
- One word: binding. Some days, my nickname here is “Kinko's” — but hey, somebody’s gotta do it.
- It’s tough keeping up with all of the “adult” pop-culture
references. I asked “who’s Farah Fawcett?” and almost got slapped.
So the low points are few and far between. Overall, my internship here has been better than I ever anticipated it would be. Being at a smaller agency gives you the chance to jump in on all types of projects — one minute I may be working on an analytics report for Premiere Global, and the next I’m helping out with social media strategy for Absolute Software. I’ve been able to learn an incredible amount about building relationships with clients, site development and how to manage budgets and project timelines. I’ve gotten to work with SEO/SEM, social media, analytics, email and video — and I don’t even think that covers half of it.
My dad was right after all. An internship is definitely one of the more important parts of the college experience. If you’re lucky, it gives you a chance to take everything you’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to real-world situations. And it’s especially great if you get to work at an agency full of extremely bright and talented people, which is exactly what I’ve gotten to do here at Springbox.
So even though I had to let UT slip to second in the partying category this year, I’d say the sacrifice has been well worth it.