Intro

Hey! It’s SK; this is my final blog for my eight week journey at the Plano Chamber. For my final blog I decided to change it up a little. I still gave a quick recap of each of my weeks, but I also have a little insight on where I am mentally. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for checking in!

Week 5

Week five was another busy week. On Tuesday, I shadowed Katie as she worked on her marketing projects and then after I went to the Plano Legislative Days meeting with Catherine and Jamee. On Wednesday, I went to another Woman’s Division event with Catherine. It was a nice event, but I mainly sat at the nametag booth and helped fill in for Ryan who was on vacation. On Thursday I tagged along with Jamee to a Boeing unveiling event. It was really nice. I got to talk to many city officials and also meet with some of my fellow Plano Mayor’s Summer Internship Program interns. Finally, Friday was another busy day as I attend a meeting with Catherine and then had Katie’s birthday lunch to attend.  Katie’s birthday was really fun; we ate Chipotle and had chocolate-covered strawberries.

Week 6

Week six was a different week. Jamee and Jeff (Board Chair of the Plano Chamber), as well as the directors were leaving for Des Moines, Iowa. The Chamber was a finalist for Chamber of the Year and so Jamee and Jeff went to be interviewed for the award. The directors also went because the Chamber was being recognized for other outstanding achievements. While half the staff was leaving, a new staff member was joining the team. Kara Goodson was recently hired as the Membership Development Manager. The Chamber was expanding rapidly and to accommodate the new growth the chamber created a new position. The week overall was pretty quiet; I pretty much did a lot of my projects the whole week and went to a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday with Christine and Kara.

Week 7

Week seven was my second to last week as an intern at the Chamber. The directors and Jamee were back after winning the 2018 Chamber of the Year award in Iowa.  Jamee had brought ice cream and brownies to celebrate the award.  The week was pretty evenly split between events and desk time. I went to two ribbon cutting ceremonies with Christine, which I always love going to. I also attended a couple meetings with Jamee throughout the week. Thursday was a little interesting I went to Tom Thumb to get my Ariel some lemons because she hadn’t been feeling well. (If you read my first blog you would know that was the same thing I did for Ryan). Friday was the busiest day of my internship, however. I had attended the Chairman’s Council Meeting with Jamee at Oak Point Nature Preserve and then I went all the way to the other side of town to meet Ariel at the Toyota North America Headquarters. I really enjoyed both meetings as Jamee’s meeting was about the future of automatic travel and Ariel’s was about cultural inclusion in a work space. During both events I had the pleasure to talk to some very influential people. In Oak Point, I had the chance to talk to Mayor LaRosiliere and personally thank him for creating such a fantastic program. After the Plano Culture Inclusion Alliance meeting I also had the chance to speak with Philip Witcher of McAfee who introduced me to a great program for minorities looking for future careers in the corporate world. Overall it was a good productive week and Friday was just a great way to end a great week.

Week 8

Week eight was my final week of the program. I wanted to finish the internship strong, so I worked hard to finish all my final projects. But there were some events I wanted to attend. On Monday, I went to Plano Mayor’s Internship Celebration Luncheon at Hilton Granite Park. The event was absolutely fantastic! I was able to meet up with some of my friends and fellow interns. The food and venue were amazing.  And best of all I won a $150 card to JC Penney, as well as a letter of recommendation from Mayor LaRosiliere! On Tuesday through Thursday, I was mainly at my desk working on my final projects. On Thursday, I attend my last ribbon cutting ceremony with Christine. It was at the Data Base building and it was really interesting. Friday was my last day at the Chamber, so to celebrate we had a pizza party. I really enjoyed the party, but I was really sad that it was my last day.

Reflection

Now that my internship is officially over I can look back and say I had a great experience. I was able to learn so much about the business community and how it operates. I discovered a whole different side of Plano that I never knew existed. During my time of reflection, I also thought about where I am in my professional life. I realize that I have been blessed to have had this great opportunity and I’m at a huge advantage. I also realize that I’m in a great position right now, but I’m still not where I want to be professionally. I know I still have a long and hard journey to get where I want to be, but I’m glad to have had a great start at the Plano Chamber of Commerce. If I could give any advice to the future Plano Chamber interns it would be take advantage of every second you’re here, because you never know when a great opportunity presents itself.

Special Thanks

This internship has been one of the best experiences of my life! I would like to thank Mayor LaRosiliere for creating such a fantastic program that I had the privilege of being a part of. I give Cigna a special thank you for being so generous to sponsor my internship.  I have to thank the most important people in my life -my family and friends- for being so supportive and encouraging through the whole journey! I really could have not done it without your love and support.  I would like also to thank all the Chamber members for how welcoming they were; and for also making the Plano Chamber the number one chamber in the nation, because without them there would be no chamber!  I would also like to thank the Plano Chamber Ambassador team for making all the ribbon cutting ceremonies fun and interesting to attend! I would also like to thank the Chamber Board for allowing me to sit in on their meetings and learn the logistical side of the business community. Finally, I would like to give a huge thank you to Katie, Judy, Jennifer, Megan, Kara, Tracy, Christine, Carole, Catherine, Ryan, Ariel, and Jamee!  You guys took me under your wings and taught me a lot about the business world. You guys made me love coming to work every day because I knew there would be something new I could learn! It was my pleasure working with each one of you and I will really miss all of you. I will forever be thankful that our paths crossed because whatever success I will have in the future would be due to y’all!