July 25, 2022: Finale Meeting

The finale meeting was amazing - probably one of the most challenging, rewarding, and fun times of my professional career so far!

The week started bright and early on Monday, July 18. I packed up my car and headed from Cincinnati to Battle Creek, which was about a 5 hour drive including stops and traffic. When I arrived at headquarters, I was able to meet up with other interns that I have been working with all summer long - many of them had arrived from all over the country! My group for the Intern Innovation Challenge practiced our presentation for Wednesday, and then soon after many of the interns headed to the nearby hotel to freshen up before our evening activity. The University Relations Team had set up bowling, escape rooms, dinner, and more for the interns to meet and greet one another in person.

Tuesday, July 19 was a day to learn more about the company, additional information about our internships and onward, and meet new interns. There was breakfast, welcome activities, tours of the building, group photos, meeting with Tony the Tiger, and getting to listen to some executive speakers including CEO Steve Cahillane.

After the morning and early afternoon, the intern group headed to Sunlight Gardens, where we got down and dirty in moving rocks, trimming trees and brush back, removing grass, and more. Although it was hard work and one of the hottest days of the year, it was a lot of fun when surrounded by good company!

Wednesday, July 20 was the big presentation day. When I arrived to HQ, I had breakfast and then started preparing for the Intern Innovation Challenge, which my team and I presented at 9am.

The Intern Innovation Challenge was a challenge presented by Eggo to create an idea to drive profit for the Eggo brand. The challenge is confidential, so I am unfortunately not allowed to share to many details about it. However - I oversaw a cross-functional team of 9 intern peers in the Intern Innovation Challenge, including during ideation, graphics creation, and presentation, to lead team to win for Summer 2022. Below are some pictures from our presentation, which we won! This means that our idea will be vetted by the Eggo team and hopefully made into a real product!

After the Intern Innovation Challenge, the interns presented their individual showcase. My showcase consisted of explaining the three aspects of my internship that I've covered in my previous posts: my in-field experience, my COMET analysis, and the intern innovation challenge. During the showcase, I was able to connect with other employees, executives, and interns and share what I did over the course of my internship. After the showcase, I headed back on the road to Cincinnati.

Throughout the few days I was in Battle Creek, I pushed myself out of my comfort zone with presenting in front of an audience of around 100 people, including more tuning in online, as well as reaching out to new people to connect with and build relationships with. I met people who I had been working with over the course of my internship in person for the first time, which was a fun and unique experience. I left wanted to learn more about Kellogg's and it's different functions, which I will hopefully be able to do with a Student Support Role in the Fall and Spring of 2022/2023.