The Twitter page I coordinated during the internship
Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project
During the past semester, my STEP Signature Project consisted of an internship. I had the opportunity to work for NBC Universal Pictures as their on-campus intern. During this internship I ran various social media accounts and conducted grass roots marketing of new movies and tv premiers for Universal Pictures. The goal with this signature project was to be able to learn more about the company and expand my career opportunities for post-graduation.
What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project?
Throughout this project I learned quite a bit about the marketing field and what it takes to run social media accounts. I had been starting to consider this as a future career opportunity but I quickly learned this was not my specialty. I had always considered myself somewhat creative but I learned while working with other interns across the country the number of brilliant ideas that they were able to implement that I never would have thought of. When it comes to the business world, there are so many different areas that you can consider for a career post-graduation, I was really excited to learn about if this was a potential area for me. While I loved the film and TV industry, I learned the marketing and social media side of film was not ideal for me.
What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you?
One of my biggest takeaways from this experience that led me to realize social media management might not be the best for my future was trying to come up with more creative ideas to market various movies. For example, as I was working towards creating different campaigns for our movies such as FREAKY, it was definitely difficult for me to come up with new and unique ideas. Part of my issues specifically with this semester as finding new ways to reach students during a COVID-19 era. With the uncertainty of university guidelines and the constant changes that were occurring around the world, it was difficult to come up with new grassroots marketing ideas. However, through all of these challenges I definitely believe I became more adaptable and resilient.
One of the other biggest takeaway moments during my project that helped lead to this transformative experience was having the opportunity to work with all of the other campus interns across the country. I was able to see the posts they make to social media, the events they were running and that inspired me with my own posts and events. I learned so much by just seeing what they were able to do on their campus that it helped me here at Ohio State.
Finally, having the opportunity to work remotely with a boss I only communicated with via email and phone was a phenomenal learning opportunity for me because of how quickly the world has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This working environment will likely still be present when I start my career in June so having the opportunity to work in it already will prove to be a huge asset when I enter the workforce. This is something that I never would have been able to experience without STEP.
Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life?
This transformation is very significant to my life because given the high importance of social media within the business world right now. I would have been interested in potentially making more of a switch to this field within my career after graduation. As a finance major with a minor in retail studies, I was really interested in seeing if marketing was another I could potentially start my career in; however, I have now realized I might not be best fit for that area. With graduation in just a few months the timing of this project could not have come at a better time so I’m very thankful for STEP to give me this opportunity.