It was the first day of my early morning Advertisement and Public Relations Research class, and I was trying not to doze off as my professor talked about topics we would be covering. As soon as she began to toss around phrases like “qualitative measures” and “focus groups,” however, I began to perk up. I knew these words. I knew them well. It was at that moment that I realized how much I had learned and been exposed to during my summer internship at BC/DC Ideas.

As the official end of summer approaches, I am excited to finally reflect further on how far I have come since May. Before this experience I had never written a blog post, used a media list or created ad copy. Needless to say, I had no idea what to expect going into the internship. I can still remember the excited, but nervous, anticipation I felt before my first meeting with the BC/DC Ideas team.

After editing dozens of blogs and documents, wracking my brain for endless creative ideas for digital ads and even executing my own content project this summer, I’m starting to get the hang of things. I now know what to look for when I edit documents, and can whip through them with ease. Public Relations lingo I didn’t even know existed before is now a regular part of my vocabulary. The most important aspect I learned about PR is that I can never finish learning about it. I feel like there’s always a new tactic or research project to discover out there!

The project where I had the most fun was creating social media promotional posts for Raleigh Little Theatre’s production of Fiddler on the Roof. It was tough breaking out of the polite, detached tone in writing I had been using my whole life in school. Once I embraced being witty and funny, I had a blast making the posts! This project, and all of the others, allowed me to spread my wings as a writer, researcher and thinker. I can’t wait to continue growing as a student, and as a person.

The real world experience I have attained from this internship has been amazing. It is incredible to me that, just like in that morning in class, I can use what I learned this summer in school. Normally, it’s the other way around!

I chose to continue working with BC/DC Ideas into my fall semester because there is so much more I want to be exposed. The team has been an excellent source of mentorship, and I love what they produce. Looks like they’re stuck with me for a while!

Until next time,

Ashita Gona