My Internship in a Nutshell

For many college students, as we get older we soon realize that our “summer break,” isn’t really a break. No more road trips with your family that last an entire week or sitting in the house all day eating junk food as you binge watch Friends for the millionth time. And sadly, no more staying up till 5am and thinking it’s okay because you sleep in till 2pm anyways.

That will soon come to an end and you will have to step into adulthood where things like that don’t happen as often. As we get older, some of us have families to take care of, sports to prepare for, military obligations or jobs/internships that take up the entire summer.

This summer that happened to me, which leads me to the point of this blog. As summer 2016 comes to a close, I thought I’d share and relive some of my favorite memories of working at the wonderful Liberty County Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau. A place where I didn’t know working could be fun.

When I accepted the internship, I knew that this was going to be a summer filled with work. I can remember my first day at the Chamber & CVB, I was nervous and excited at the same time. Although I have worked a job similar to this, it was also so different.

I came in thinking that this was a simple desk job where I’m working on a computer, filing and answering the phone all day. Little did I know it was WAY more than that! There was so much more that I was involved in that I had no idea how much time and effort was needed to pull it off.

I think that’s what drew me to want to take the internship. I wanted to come in and help in areas that the folks here can’t always handle because they are that busy. One of those areas was the Liberty County App that you can get on any smartphone, tablet, you name it, for free. I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t even know Liberty County had an app. I know now! Lol. That was fun because I got to see how the mobile app worked from behind the scenes.

I also got to update our Liberty County Reel-Scout account, which helps promote film sites in our community for film companies to come. I am excited to see what films will be produced here in the future possibly because of the work that I did this summer.

A great thing about the Chamber and CVB, is how much they care for our Liberty County Community. I was fortunate enough to help out with the Hope Flag project, which flags were filled with motivational quotes, prayers and wishes for our community and the world.

But I think the best project that I got to help out with, is the rehabilitation of the Midway gazebo and info kiosk. I was able to create QR codes that will give you the location to the specific historic site on that kiosk from your current location. Cool right? Our society is so tech savvy now that we don’t have to go onto MapQuest anymore and print out the written directions. I may be young, but I still know about the print out directions lol.

I find it very cool that the Chamber and CVB work extremely close together. So I had the opportunity to make memories from working both sides. A funny one was when Amanda and I had a conversation one day about the lingo of my generation and how it’s so different. Of course I had to fill her in on what’s hip now and let her know which ones were out of date.

So from that day forward, whenever I thought of something that people my age say, I would relay it back to the folks in the office and then get to listen to Mary go around the office saying it. Every now and then when something good happens, all you hear is her saying “YASSSS” or “It’s lit.” To everyone that has to listen to Mary using the lingo I taught her for years to come, here is my apology in advance.

There was one thing that I didn’t know how to do, but I had the opportunity to learn how to hitch a trailer to the back of a truck! You probably weren’t expecting me to say that, but I did! I never knew that it was that easy. From there on out, whenever we needed the trailer, I got to do it! I guess you can say I’m kind of country now lol.

To wrap up my summer, the work I had to do was only a small part of my experience here. The biggest part was the atmosphere, the people and the family feeling. Everyone that I worked with on a daily basis, to those that I saw from time to time at meetings or events, have made my experience one that I won’t forget. My co-workers and supervisor were amazing, I’m sad to leave but taking this internship for the summer was definitely one of the best choices I have ever made. Leah, Amanda, Mary, Erin, Rebecca and Joey, keep on working hard! You make me Liberty County Proud!

Guest Blogger, Jasmine Williams

Jasmine Williams is our summer intern.  She is a student at Auburn University.

The Right Blend Blog is written by two different authors employed by the Liberty County Chamber/CVB. As we are able, we rotate weeks and each write about our individual experiences, opinions and let our writing reflect our personalities and creativity. All content provided on The Right Blend blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.