By: Loren Smith
My name is Loren Smith and I am a recent college graduate from American University in Washington, D.C. I personally have had an interesting ride with college and internships, and in this blog I am going to share my experience and how I think internships could be improved for future interns to come. Internship experience is a privilege for some and a struggle for many. I believe internships can be such a great opportunity! However, they don’t always cater to those who are underprivileged, or able to accept an unpaid internship.
My Personal Experience
My college experience was slightly different than most. I started taking college courses in my junior year of highschool and graduated with my associate’s degree. Upon transferring to a four year university, I knew that I was going to be graduating two years early with individuals 2-3 years older than me, who likely had more experience in the field. This was stressful for me, considering degrees in Public Relations are so reliant on internship experience, in order to secure a job after graduation. Because of this, I had to constantly remind myself not to compare myself to the older students.
In my “sophomore” year of college which was also my last year, I was able to get a paid internship with a marketing agency in the fall semester and I was, and still am, very grateful for this. To be 19 working in a major city such as Washington, D.C. and do things like ride the metro to work with TONS (seriously, the metro was packed) of serious people in suits, was such a fun experience for me. Even though I finished college with one internship under my belt, I chose to look at it with a positive mindset and decided to spend the two years that I would have been in school, traveling and gaining internship experience.
Lee and London
After graduating, I took the summer off to relax (Covid-19 kind of forced me to), which I honestly needed. I then applied to intern with Lee and London for the fall of 2020. After completing a mock press release and interview, Brendi, CEO of Lee and London, took me under her wing. I am very grateful to be able to complete a remote internship with Lee and London PR, and to be working with individuals in different parts of the country. I hope that remote jobs continue to be accessible to future interns and job seekers who may not have the privilege to relocate for job openings.
That all being said, I’m looking forward to sharing some of my internship experience with you all, through this blog!
