Sadly, this was the last day of our internship program. To save money on parking, I drove Will and Parker to work today. Triple carpooling was definitely a smart move in downtown Raleigh. We walked into HQ Raleigh ready to grind. I finished the hangtag designs, the black tags being the most popular among our team.
Making the tags was a useful project and experience. The criterion of being aesthetically pleasing while also containing useful information is a bit of a challenge, and if there was more time, I would edit the hangtags to the best of my ability, but since it was the last day and Mr. Self had only asked for a prototype, I decided to focus on helping the team improve the presentation. We worked hard on correcting the flow of the presentation and before we knew it, lunch break was upon us.
We headed to Transfer Co. Food Hall for lunch, where we met up with Alexandra Ellison, my fellow peer who was shadowing in the ER. We conversed on comfortable couches and headed back to HQ. We booked another conference room for our final meet up with Mr. Self and added finishing touches to our PowerPoint.
Once we finished our presentation with Mr. Self, he told us that with a few minor tweaks, he would be able to use this presentation in various circumstances, whether it be to the professors at Vector Textiles or even to a potential customer. We were all proud of all the work that we accomplished over the past 8 days. He explained to us that he was proud of our work ethic and diligence we had put into meeting his expectations and even allotting extra time to work on the topics that he presented as optional. I learned a lot about marketing over the course of the program and met lots of people, an important way to get a little leg up in the future. I am grateful for Caroline from R!OT for providing us the workspace and booking our conference rooms and being a friendly face we could turn to for any questions or requests. Mr. Self provided us with an amazing opportunity to make a difference in the real world and providing important research to help with a start-up company.
After the presentation, we shook hands with our boss and headed out for the day. As a last hurrah, we zoomed to the 8th floor of the parking deck and savored our last moment as The Interns. With that, we drove back to Cary.
The Work Experience Program was very helpful in giving me a taste of what a real job feels like. Although the first job I get will not be as laid back as our internship, there are lots of important tips that I learned. Good communication, good presentation skills, and good teamwork are all essential in getting the job done. During the 8 days, I have become closer with my fellow teammates, some of whom I had barely spoken with during the school year. It was an overwhelmingly positive experience and I highly recommend it to rising juniors:)