Kendall Herren
Graduation Year: May 2016
Major: Agricultural Communications
Hometown: Sheridan, Illinois
Campus Activities: Explore ACES, Illini Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow, Collegiate Farm Bureau, ACES Student Advancement Committee, 4-H House Cooperative Sorority, Illini Pride, Orange Krush, 2015 U of I Homecoming Court
Hobbies: Illini Basketball, biking, softball, Netflix
Internship: Marketing Intern - College of ACES Marketing Department
What were your duties?
As a communications and marketing intern for the College of ACES, I write profiles about students, courses and alumni for the College of ACES website. This process also includes frequent phone interviews, resizing photos in Photoshop for the website and reworking the content for different mediums, including social media.
Social media has been a large aspect of my internship as I run the college Twitter page. I have done extensive research on how to increase our following base, the right messages to be communicating, and how to best interact with our followers. This was a great experience to learn a different marketing and communications platform, compared to Facebook.
What did you most enjoy about your internship?
I enjoy having the ability to be given a project and run with it. My boss gives me important projects that are highly seen by prospective students, alumni, etc. via the website, college magazine, and a number of social media platforms.
I also enjoy the people I work with. I don't just feel like an intern, I feel like a vital person within the office because responsibility is put on my shoulders, and I am relied on for a number of things.
What was the most difficult aspect of your internship?
I began this internship as a freshmen, and the writing learning curve was a lot for me to learn coming from high school. After working with my boss, and the college copy editor, I learned a lot. Three years later, I am a much better writer.
How did your experience at Illinois and in the College of Media prepare you for your internship?
I was a freshmen at this point when I was hired, and I made contacts with my boss through ACES. Over the years, however, I've made some great connections in Media, which have paid off working on class assignments and such.
How has your internship prepared you for a career?
This internship has been monumental in providing several real-world opportunities in the communications and marketing world. For example, I've written articles for the college magazine, which has given me feature writing opportunities, as well as opportunities to rewrite those stories for social media platforms.
I have covered different social media platforms over the years, which has also been a great learning experience, too.
Everything I do in my internship has real-world application, and that has helped more than anything.
What recommendations do you have for other students about doing an internship?
Don't be afraid to take a leap and get involved. Even if it is just a few hours a week, that's an opportunity to learn a little bit more.
Click here to view all archived Internship Spotlights