My first internship

I was born and raised in St Mary's County so I have always been familiar with the base. Most of my friend's parents worked on the base, lots of my friends had internships here, and my dad started working on the base about 5 years ago. So when I got the internship to work for the Public Affairs Office here at Pax River I was ecstatic.

I currently attend West Virginia University where I study Strategic Communications which is a new major that combines advertisement and public relations. After my freshman year I realized that I truly loved this field of work and I craved for more experience.

I heard about this internship from my friend Shannon who worked here last summer and was always going on about how much she loved her internship. I knew the public affairs field was not exactly the same as what I was studying but I still thought it would be a great opportunity.

So far, I love it here. I have learned so much within the past month. Not only have I learned a lot of new skills such as doing infographics, setting up interview questions etc. but I have also learned a lot about the Navy. On my first day I was overwhelmed with all of the acronyms and different programs but after a week I really started to get the hang of it. My mentor is so supportive and helpful and I actually look forward to coming to work Monday through Thursday.

While yes, this internship is unpaid I still think it is totally worth it. The job market is tough now-a-days and the more knowledge you have, the more marketable you become. I would recommend this internship to anyone I met in the communications field.