Just about thirty days ago I started my internship with RSP. I came in with little knowledge about what I was doing and how I was going to do it, truthfully I was nervous. Nervous about my networking meetings, balancing it with my sports, and getting to know the technology. Reflecting back on my first month I had no reason to be nervous and so far it’s been a great experience for me. Some things I’ve done that have felt the most important to me are; learning new platforms and getting involved with AI, building a Linkedin page, and starting networking meetings, and learning professionalism through experience.
Through early Zoom meetings and emails with my future boss Wendy I had a little glimpse of what I thought my internship was going to look like. My main goal is to find out if I liked marketing or not and use the experience to help me figure out what I want to do. I knew Wendy thought I should do networking meetings to help with my goal. Initially, networking meetings didn't sound particularly appealing, but I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and it’s become routine and I actually enjoy them. I've enjoyed meeting all these people virtually and finding out about their experiences, and I find out about jobs that I never even realized a person could have. I also get to learn from the valuable experiences of others. I’ve had so many takeaways but one that I’ve seen most commonly was that even if you go into college majoring in a totally different career or come out of high school thinking you're gonna do something, you can end up doing something totally different and have it work out great. In summary, it’s difficult to know what you want to do when you're 18 and if you're not right it will work out in the end.
Another big thing I’ve done that kind of goes together with the zoom meetings is starting a LinkedIn page and starting to grow it. By growing it I follow marketing and internship related pages, reach out to people who I have connections with or are in my field, and try different types of posts out like polls and videos. I try to post weekly on it and am always active trying to make new connections and grow my network. Another thing that is out of my comfort zone is posting on social media but it’s become routine now. I can also use the connections on LinkedIn to message people I wasn’t referred to and set up a networking meeting with them.
One final thing I think is really good that I do as part of the internship is learning a bunch of new software and programs. Some of the software and platforms I've become familiar with include: Gamma, Survey Monkey, Zoom, Trello, LinkedIn, Google Calendar, Powerpoint, Wix, Canva, and Hubspot Academy. I am confident that becoming familiar with these platforms now will benefit me throughout my academic and professional career.
As I reflect on my first 30 days at RSP, I am proud of the progress I have made and excited about the opportunities ahead. Over the next month, I hope to expand my LinkedIn network to 75 connections, continue developing my networking tracker by reaching out to at least 50 professionals, and connect with individuals working in sports marketing to gain additional insight into the industry. Also if you are reading this and would like to share your experience and knowledge through a zoom meeting please email me at elielk8888@gmail.com.
With football season beginning in August, balancing my internship responsibilities with athletics will present a new challenge. However, I view this as an opportunity to continue strengthening my time management skills while remaining committed to making the most of this experience. I am grateful for everything I have learned so far and look forward to seeing where the remainder of my internship journey takes me.
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