Friday, February 28, 2014

The Intern: Where it all began

Hi! My name is Annika. I’m a super senior at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and I’m finally about to graduate! A super senior is what we call someone who has dedicated over 4 years of their college life to the wonderful world of tuition and books. I personally see it as an honor ;). I originally started out with an International Business major but realized at the end of my sophomore year that it wasn’t the right path for me. All of my friends were so passionate about what they were studying and I wanted to feel that same way about my major. I had the pleasure of attending my cousins wedding in Florida during the fall semester of my sophomore year. I fell in love with this special day where two families come together to celebrate the love between two people. I gawked over the centerpieces, the wedding favors, the food and the cake! The following summer was my parent’s 25th anniversary and I sure wasn’t going to let it pass by without a party. My grandmother and I worked together to send out the invitations, buy silver themed decorations and purchase a cake that was identical to the one at my parent’s wedding (only smaller, let’s be real, cake is expensive). I had such a great time planning their anniversary, I immediately checked out UNCG’s website and found a major that included a concentration in event planning. The next day I sent in my request to change majors and finally for the first time I got excited about buying books and going to class (I know, weird right?)

Before I am able to graduate, I needed to complete 480 hours at an internship related to my concentration. Where would I even begin to look? What agency would take me in as an intern? I have so little experience, would they even be willing to mentor me? My last event planning class was taught by an event planner based out of Burlington (no idea where that was), but she had a great personality and awesome hair. So, before anyone else in my class could, I emailed her about an internship. Lo and behold she needed a spring intern and hired me a few weeks later. So here I am, eager, willing and ready to get started spending my time learning to be an event planner. I found my passion and now I won't ever have to work another day in my life :)