Hometown: Ypsilanti, MI
Major and class standing: Senior, Apparel & Textiles
Where you interned: Showroom Seven, New York

What was your internship title and role/responsibilities?

My internship title was a showroom assistant and I would help with merchandising and other tasks around the showrooms. Such as setting up stylists to do polls for photo shoots, or contacting brands, emailing stylists to see if they used any of the pieces they pulled from the showroom, updating press decks, and things like that.

How did you obtain your internship? What resources did you utilize to secure your internship?

I got my internship through AIFS and applied through MSU’s College of Arts & Letters with the New York City Study Away program.

What did your daily routine include?

My daily routine: I would wake up, eat breakfast, get on the subway, and take the train to work. It was about a 30 minute commute, which was really nice. It gives you time to read and it’s definitely one of the shorter commutes in New York, and I was also on the same train so I didn’t have to transfer.

Your favorite experience from the internship?

I would say my favorite experience with this internship was definitely all the different events I got to work. I attended a fashion show for one of the designers we represented that was at this small restaurant that was going to be opening up. I got to meet Billy Porter – that was really cool – he did a little talk about his new album coming out. I also got to take part in filming a reality tv show and that was super interesting.

What was your least favorite part of the internship?

My least favorite part of the internship was that I did not get to do as much merchandising as I would have liked. It was definitely more business focused which is not my main interest.

What skills did you learn and/or build upon during your internship?

One skill that I think this internship really helped me improve were my communication skills, because I had to communicate with a wide range of people everyday. So I learned how to talk with a bunch of different kinds of people and make sure that we are understanding each other and coming from the same place. 

What did you learn about the industry or your career path as a result of the internship? What are your future plans?

I also think that I learned a lot more about the business side of fashion, because I’m an Apparel and Textile major and we usually learn about the design portion of apparel and not the business-side, so that was really interesting.

What advice do you have for other students seeking out internship opportunities?

I would say to definitely enter your internship with an open mind. You may not be taking on the roles or doing the tasks you expected but it can still be a really rewarding experience and you’re going to learn so much no matter what. For me, when I was entering into this, I kind of expected for it to be more merchandising-focused, more design-focused, but I ended up doing a lot more of the business side, doing some kind of PR work for my boss. I would draft contracts and I would write up proposals but that’s really really helpful because then you have a more well-rounded experience in whatever field you want to go into. Overall, I had a really rewarding experience that I highly recommend.