June 14, 2021

So far, my internship at Ulliman Schutte has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. Not only is it my first "professional" job, but it is also the first job that I have gotten to dive into some topics of my own personal interest while at work.

The first week at my job (May 10-14) was learning the ropes and getting to know everyone in the office. I met the people who I would be working with most: the Marketing Department. With a crew of 5 people, myself included, we make a small but mighty team. The learning curve was pretty steep for the first week, especially since I knew almost nothing about the ins and outs of wastewater treatment plants and other odds and ends that were constructed.

During my second week (May 17-21), I received tasks to "Champion" throughout the summer. These included ordering new Yetis for internal marketing, ordering a custom logo mat for conferences, creating a customized cookie, updating their library for content, interviewing other Co-Ops and updating the website, and more. Some of these tasks were quick to reach completion - others will likely be a summer-long process. Many of the tasks revolved around internal marketing, but others involved reaching out to organizations, vendors, and potential connections for the company.

During the week of May 24th, I was able to visit one of our jobsites in Cincinnati. Since I am a part of the marketing team, we were sent out to gather pictures and videos of the job site, as well as interview some people for some recruitment videos. I was harnessed up and sent down a 60 foot diversion chamber, along with two ladies from my department.

The week of May 31st, I was out on vacation. It was a much appreciated break from the internship, but I was glad to go back the following Monday.

Last week (June 7-11), I was back in the swing of things and had finally found my groove. Much of my internship involved working in Adobe Creative Cloud, especially in apps such as Photoshop and InDesign. The IT Department was gracious enough to grant me my own surface pro to use to create designs, so I have been working with that and familiarizing myself with the programs even more. I am also comfortable now in reaching out to others when I need help, asking questions, and offering help when I need more tasks to work on. I was also able to meet with my Career Coach Brian Fanelli, who helped me define some goals for my internship/honors experience, as well as offer some advice as to where to move next with the process.

Today, I mainly worked on a project which involves designing a custom mug for other new Co-Ops, reaching out to vendors and gathering quotes, ordering the mugs, creating packaging for the box, and designing the welcome card that will come in the box. I thoroughly am enjoying the process, as it involves both design aspects and reaching out to others.

Moving forward, I hope to learn more about both InDesign and Photoshop, as well as learn more about Digital Marketing as a whole.