Taking Off on an Intern Adventure
Author: perkinsk
**Emelie Knobloch, senior in public relations**
Life has a way of introducing you to incredible milestones without knowing how important they are at the time. Like the application frenzy I went on last September around 12:30 a.m. while panicking that I wasn’t going to find an internship.
About a month after that spree I was given a job offer as the communications intern for the leading aviation producer, Textron Aviation. With no knowledge base in anything related to aviation, I packed up my car and moved to southern Kansas.
Now that I am in my final week of my internship, I am still shocked every day by the opportunities I have had here. As the only communications intern for a company of over 10,000 employees, I had the opportunity to gain exposure in all aspects of corporate communications including community relations, employee communications, media relations and event management.
My first project was to form the communications plan for the first flight and first flight event of our new aircraft the Citation Longitude. My second main project was developing an employee app used as an employee engagement platform.
This internship has taught me so many lessons that will be with me throughout my career. This was my first experience working for a company of this size. When I started my research for my first project, I soon realized the changing communications tactics through different population sizes. Instead of walking downstairs to go talk to someone, I had to drive 25 minutes to our other campus. Textron Aviation has an incredibly welcoming culture that allowed me gain a knowledge base in general aviation as well as business.
I had very unique opportunities like hosting aircraft viewings for 400 interns, shadowing flight reviews, writing media advisories, organizing employee volunteer events and writing a communications plan for a change in our charitable funding application process. I my personal highlights include an intern Jake Owen concert and flying an airplane.
Going into my senior year, I have a new perspective of applying my public relations and writing courses to the corporate setting. I also know what areas I still need to focus on as I return to Textron Aviation next summer to begin my full-time career as a human resources and communications professional.