I have officially moved to Washington, D.C., 6th Street SW to be exact. I live in what my apartment complex calls a "deluxe studio." Who knows what they mean, but I must admit "deluxe" is just fine!
The Waterfront metro station is right across the parking lot. Every day until Aug. 13 I'll be commuting between D.C. and Reston, VA for about an hour. I don't mind the commute time since it gives me plenty of time to think about the day or read one of my books.
So far the internship experience has surpassed my expectations. Everyone at the Sallie Mae headquarters has made me feel welcome. They have also been quite generous in terms of really giving me a realistic picture of what it means to work with consumer marketing on a day to day basis.
From meetings to discuss direct marketing proposals to discussing aspects of a product launch, everything has served to provide a clearer picture of what happens before a given product or service is made available to consumers.
Yesterday, my second day on the job, my boss and her assistant spelled out the details of the project that I will be working on this summer. Following an orientation session to discuss SM's code of conduct, among other things, I began reading all the materials I received the day before and started thinking about the questions I will want to ask the employees that work for the different departments that are connected to my project.
My fourth day, June 10, will mostly be spent on organizing how I will tackle the project. Then, the day will conclude with a Happy Hour at the cafeteria for all Reston employees.
Well, I've got to run. Until next time!
In my last entry I explained the challenges of securing a summer internship, especially when switching careers. As you might recall (if not, read or reread "Home Stretch"!), I'm switching gears from publishing to marketing.
At the end of my second semester at Olin, I had not finalized my internship plans (there were a couple of pending interviews) when I decided to fly to Madrid, Spain to spend a couple of weeks with my younger sister, brother-in-law and their newborn son Andrés (born March 31). So on May 6, with work from three classes due on the 10th and 11th, I flew from St. Louis to Madrid.
What a thrill it was to meet the "little creature"! Wow! I cannot tell you how difficult it was to concentrate on school work while wanting to capture Andrés' every moment! Between diaper changes and acting silly, I managed to finish my three remaining classes (thank God for e-mail!), interview with a couple of companies and basically stare at Andrés like an obsessed fan!
What a thrill it was to feel the joy of landing my internship! And what a relief! As challenging as the market and competition have been, I had long decided that the worst-case scenario would have had me working for free for a multinational in Puerto Rico. Yes, I was determined to talk a P&G into designing some projects for me to work on. Fortunately it didn't have to come to that, but there would have been absolutely no shame had I done so. For me the biggest shame would have been to sit at home waiting for my second year to roll around. Simply not an option!
So here I am, just three days from moving to Washington D.C. I've accepted a 10-week internship with Sallie Mae's consumer marketing division. I am both excited and anxious to see what's in store. The nervousness is there as always at the start of something unknown. But as my boyfriend tells me, "Nerves are normal. Worry when they are not there!" He's right!
Well, I've got plenty to organize before I leave town on June 5th. Until my next entry!