Week One
My first day at Points was nothing like I expected. Before walking through the office doors, I thought my shy, quiet personality was going to get in the way of making a memorable first impression. But, I was wrong. From the moment I arrived, I noticed how friendly and talkative everyone was. Even though the majority of my day consisted of signing papers, learning names and eating cupcakes (YUM!), this was one of the only times in my life where I felt like I fit in and the shyness melted away. Points strives for great collaboration and teamwork, just like I do. Growing up with four siblings really inspired me to become an effective team player. I know this office will give me an opportunity to make an impact on the work they accomplish and I’m excited to be a part of the action.
Week Two
I have always considered myself a well-organized person. I’ve even been told my organizational habits can be a little crazy and intimidating. Working at Points has brought my skills up to a whole new level. I honestly did not think my organization needed improvement until I started working here. I have used more spreadsheets within the last two weeks than I have in my entire life. I have learned to never go anywhere without a pen and paper. Post-it notes are a lifesafer. Details are so important, being organized is an essential necessity here. I think that’s what makes us a great team. Organization allows for open communication and keeps us on track with all of our work. The skills I have already obtained have helped me grow into a better intern.
Week Three
At the end of every work day, I am amazed by how quickly the day has gone by. I never feel like I need to kill some time before the day is over. I am always in meetings, and I am multitasking so many different projects at once. I love how involved I am in every step of every process! I am treated as a valuable member of the team who can really make a difference. I am confident in the work that I am doing and the ideas that I contribute. This internship program really lets me try anything I am interested in. Design, website development, content writing, digital marketing – I am doing it all and it’s only week three! I can’t wait to see what I get involved in next.
WEEK FOUR
Lights, Cameras, Freeze? This week was the first week for the intern video log. You would think this would be easy for a girl who constantly talks to herself but as soon as you put a camera in front of me, I freeze. I am already a shy, soft-spoken person. Most people find it hard to believe I can be even quieter than I already am. In front of a camera, I stumble on my words. I sweat a lot. There is always a whole lot of awkward silence and internal screaming. I am hoping that this continuous video log gets me more comfortable in front of camera. If I can conquer this fear, I can conquer any fear. Well, most fears anyway. I don’t think this will help me with my fear of lizards but it will definitely help me with my public speaking.
WEEK FIVE
Even though I am a web development intern, this week I started working on multiple projects with the design team. I created imagery for a variety of social media accounts and created my very first mood board. I will be working closely with the design team to create all the design pieces needed for our office’s grand opening event. I love working with both the design team and the web team. I am gaining so much from working with them at the same time. Not only am I learning a lot of skills in both departments, but my communication and writing skills have improved, too. It’s inspiring to be a part of successful collaboration. Growing up with four siblings taught me the importance of teamwork and making compromises. The best solutions and the best end results happen when you work together to problem solve. Luckily, I get to be a part of it all!
WEEK SIX
This week I participated in my first QA session for a website development project. My task was to review the website the web developers built, and make sure everything functions and appears the way it is supposed to. This is a long and tedious assignment, but extremely important and I enjoyed being part of the process. I got to learn how user testing works and how to fix minor issues that are common in websites. Details are so important in user testing, user experience and web design. Every link matters. Structure and organization matter. Content and grammar matter. Design matters. Everything matters! That’s why this process is so long.
In addition to my first QA session, I attended my first office palooza. Actually, I don’t think I ever attended any palooza before this. In honor of the holiday weekend, the palooza had a patriotic theme. There was so much food. I don’t remember the last time I had such a large lunch. There were hot dogs, brownies, chicken, fruit, shrimp and so much more! To top it all off, Allyson even got a flavored ice truck to come in the parking lot. I went a little crazy with my flavors. This office takes their paloozas very, very seriously.
WEEK SEVEN
I took on a lot of new tasks this week since my mentor was on vacation. It was challenging at first, but still very satisfying when I finally figured some problems out on my own. In addition to website updates I normally work on, I had to prepare a presentation for the account manager meeting the following week. I decided to teach all the account managers about InVision, a design collaboration tool that I believe can really help with our process here at Points.
I was also assigned another task that I am very excited about. I get to create a PowerPoint presentation template for all Points employees to use! This will be an interesting challenge for me because it has to be a very user-friendly and versatile template. There are many different functions and formatting options that I have to design for. This is an awesome assignment, and I can’t wait to work with the Design department to create something great!
