This summer I had the incredible opportunity to intern at a Marketing agency in St. Paul, Minnesota as an HR intern. I went into this internship with little knowledge of what I wanted to major in or pursue as a career in the future. My goal for this summer was to learn. Working directly in the office, surrounded by employees and the collaboration of this business, I knew I would be able to learn so much about both the business and marketing worlds. I learned so much about how the inner workings of a marketing agency and the different departments come together to create the finished product for their client's from the first-hand experience. I have such a greater sense of understanding of the business world and am so thankful that this company let me join their family for the summer. On top of learning about business, through this whole summer experience, I also learned so much about myself and these are lessons I know I would take with me going forward.

In a meeting with one of the executives, he said something that will stick with me for a long time. In talking to us interns about our "plan" from college into our future careers, he told us to try something that's different, that isn't directly in line with the plan we think we have to so closely follow to be successful. He told us to take time while we are young and have the opportunity to do something different and out of the ordinary. This really stuck with me because I'm the kid that has this perfectly outlined plan that I tell myself I have to follow, but in reality, I should take new, exciting opportunities that will put me out of my comfort plan and will give me brand new perspectives.

Another thing I learned that I will take with me is to not be afraid to put myself out there. I took the opportunity to meet with different employees to get a feel for what their job is like in their department of the business. I wanted to do this to gain a perspective of the areas I was interested in within a marketing agency. I had such meaningful conversations with the employees I met with, one even leading me to look into strategic communications as something I would pursue in my future. It was intimidating emailing these employees, asking to take time out of their busy schedules, but all of them were more than welcome to talk and gave me great advice moving forward. This was an opportunity I was so glad I took advantage of and will remember that really good things can come from pushing myself out of my comfort zone.

Lastly, I became so much more confident in my abilities this summer. I didn't know what to expect working as an intern, and to be honest I was skeptical of my abilities as I wanted so much to impress and be up to the companies standards. From day one I was met with such a level of enthusiasm that I, along with the other interns would be joining them for the summer and helping in our separate departments. I was given meaningful work and responsibilities and had the autonomy to decide how I wanted to complete my projects from the beginning. And while at first, this was scary, I learned to appreciate the challenge and have faith in my abilities and recognize the unique strengths I brought to the table. It was a huge growing moment for me and by instilling confidence in myself it made working on and completing my project even more meaningful as I was met with gratitude and recognition for my hard work. This summer taught me a lot about myself, especially about how confident and able I should in my abilities and strengths.

I am forever thankful for my summer, being able to learn within the walls of a successful business and being able to create meaningful relationships with my fellow colleagues and interns. These things I learned in working at this company are definitely things I will take with me moving forward as new ventures and opportunities present themselves.