New job and completed internship.

It's almost the end of July and I am wondering where my summer has gone. In a month I'll be back in school-mode and it will be good bye summer for another year. One tell-tale sign that the summer is ending - books titles are being posted for classes on the online bookstore. Usually I put off purchasing my books, but this year I got an early start. The week before classes I usually rush around buying books and school supplies. Why the sudden change of heart? The week before school starts I will not be in town, in the state or even on the continent. During the last week in August I will be in Cape Town, South Africa conducting market research as a part of my new job with the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College.

A few weeks ago my marketing adviser, Elaine, contacted me to tell me she recommended me to work on a project with the Emergent Media Center. The center is working with the United Nations to create an electronic game to educate young men in developing countries about violence against women. The entire project will be completed by Champlain College students. During the project I will be a market researcher. This is a great opportunity for Champlain and its students and I feel honored to have been chosen to work on the project.

Even after learning that I got the job, the idea that I would be working on a project for the U.N. was very surreal. After attending the orientation, this project and the idea of going to Africa became very real to me. Since Thursday, my mind has been racing, thinking of all the things I need to get done before I go. I've also been thinking of all of the research that needs to happen before hand.

Though the opportunity is amazing it has not come without it's own set of troubles. For the last two years I've been putting off renewing my passport because I was too cheap to pay for it. Because the visit is in one month, I had to have the passport expedited. $175 and six days later I have received my passport. I've also had to contact the travel clinic to set up an appointment for immunizations. Still on my to do list: find out what insurance will cover, contact doctors' offices for my immunization history. Though they are small nuisances, these have been the least of my concerns.

As a result of accepting this job, I may have to sacrifice another. Since the visit to Africa falls during the last week of August I will be missing the second week of RA training. This, according to the residential life office, is not okay. We would not be fully trained and would not be present for move in weekend, which are two duties of being an RA. Since this would be the only conflicting week for the two jobs my roommate, Nichole (who is also in the same situation), and I have been trying to work with the residential life office, the Emergent Media Center, and the president of the college to find ways to keep both jobs. It has been a stressful week and a we expect to hear a final verdict on the situation on Monday or Tuesday of the upcoming week.

This week I also finished my internship hours at PIEmatrix. This summer I spent 120 hours as a Marketing and Communication's intern developing Social Media Markeing and Search Engine Marketing plans as well as developing a list of influential blogs and analysts in the IT industry. There were also other assignments for the internship. The experience was not what I expected it to be at all, if anything it was better. The people at PIEmatrix took a personal interest in my education and as a result I feel I have learned a great deal about the IT industry and Social Media Marketing. I know I still have much to learn but I thank them for taking me in as an intern.

One last note. During the spare time that I don't have, I have been adding content to the flash file of my website. I expect to post the updated content within the next week or so. I have decided to hold off on adding video for now. In the meantime you can visit my youtube account and check out videos I have uploaded for classes.

Thank you for reading,
Amanda