As students face unexpected changes to their summer employment, travel and study abroad plans, PRISMites have been making the most of their time away from Blacksburg by getting creative and reimagining what it means to be an intern. This is how our team is rocking their summer 2020 internships!
A CMO On-the-Go
Hanna Kron is balancing her work as PRISM’s Chief Marketing Officer while working as an account management intern at NEON, an FCB Health Network company.
"The program integrates all interns together to work closely. So, I get to work closely with creatives, medical strategists, account managers, editorial interns, new business, and more! Allowing me to learn from others around me with different backgrounds and skill sets. In addition, I enjoy how this company gives me the opportunity to give back to those who are in need or sick. The program is extremely structured and the company is well known in the industry for being innovative, culture-driven, and for creating award-winning work."
In Her Prime
Savannah Meredith, the other half of our executive team, lovingly nicknamed “Havannah,” has been working hard this summer for Amazon as their enterprise sales intern.
"Amazon is really big on having a day one mentality, meaning that you should always strive to maintain that 'always learning' mindset and continually raise your standards. The AWS VP of America Sales said the most valuable quality he sees in a new employee is someone who 'takes more action and talks less' — someone who leads with the mentality of 'Look what I've done versus what I'm going to do.’”
Summer by Design
Nina Morris is spending her summer as a design fellow for Urspace. Throughout her fellowship, Nina has been enjoying coffee chats with fellow members of the Urspace community and gaining valuable experience working cross-functionally with engineers.
“My favorite part of the fellowship is getting to have hands-on collaborative experience with product design and the actual process that goes into it, rather than just ‘making it look pretty.’ I am learning to use my product brain while building an end-to-end product from scratch to create a progressive shopping Chrome extension and companion website!”
Doing it the PepsiCo Way
Marisa Cerchio landed a sales management internship with PepsiCo this summer. She decided to pursue the position with PepsiCo because the program is tailored to fit the busy schedules of student-athletes like herself.
"Something I have learned so far is to voice opinions and ideas fearlessly. That's one of their seven core values of 'The PepsiCo Way.' There are always going to be people with differing ideas, so hearing from everyone in a non-judgmental environment will have a very large positive impact on the work that is being produced."
All About Altria
Laila Houser is serving as a brand management intern for Altria, a huge sponsor of PRISM. She had initially heard about this opportunity with the company through a PRISM trip.
"A typical day in the life consists of lots of WebEx meetings and strategic thinking. Working as a client and the driving force behind creative decisions that the agency makes has given me a much better understanding of the industry as a whole."
On the “Write” Track
Ali Monahan is gaining experience as a copywriting intern at Area 23, an FCB Health Network company.
“I’m so thankful to have the opportunity to apply my love for marketing and creative to products that are improving people’s lives. It’s so rewarding to know that even though I don’t have a background in pharma, I can still play a part in creating materials and campaigns that help people.”
The City’s Finest
Megan Monroe is learning about agency life as an intern for NewCity, where she has been exploring web and experience design.
"My experience at NewCity has taught me to embrace collaboration. Each person has their individual role and assignments, but without the collaboration of team members, it'd be nearly impossible to actually get anything done. Everyone is incredibly talented and I learn so much from each team member every day."
Busy in the ‘Burgh
Abby Stewart is currently interning for Marketing Support Network in Pittsburgh,PA. This opportunity allows her to combine her interests in digital marketing and IT.
“My favorite part about my internship is that the people are amazing. Many of my clients are non-profits, and I love being able to help them. I also have had the opportunity to learn multiple website building applications. The key to success is understanding how a client's business runs to build out a logical website for customer use. Every client's vision is different and you need to be able to convey their messaging."
Making Waves at Blue Ocean Brain
Julia Palumbo is excited to be spending her summer as an intern for Blue Ocean Brain. She is grateful for the opportunity to learn more about how local companies market to large companies worldwide.
"This company was founded by three women, and I love the idea of working for such strong, intelligent women. My favorite part about interning at Blue Ocean Brain is the camaraderie. From slack messages giving a coworker a shout-out for doing a great job to checking to see if I have any questions, everyone’s mutual goal is to encourage others to be the best they can."
Working Hard at Home
Colby Camalier is spending his summer interning for Buchanan Partners to learn more about real estate. During his time working there, he hopes to find a niche that he can further focus his business-oriented interests towards.
"Right now, we're completely online, so it's a total learning curve. It's new every day and always changing, which is actually enjoyable. I love the people I've met. They're outgoing and very helpful with any questions I have. I've learned that whenever you make a decision, it's best to take it and run with it, then slow down and look back."
As the summer draws to an end and the fall semester quickly approaches, our PRISMites are looking forward to returning to campus and applying their new knowledge, experiences, and skills to their work for PRISM!