On the Path to Discovering My Passion Interning with Ajenda PR by Kendall Rhoads
December 2, 2020
Throughout my time at Chapman, especially as a Strategic and Corporate Communication major, I have been on the route to discovering where I want to take a career following graduation this spring. While embarking on this journey, I have always been open to any path, but I always assumed that I would enter marketing in the food and restaurant sector in the back of my mind. Before my senior year, I always found myself in field marketing positions for various protein bar companies or restaurants that I thoroughly enjoyed. I never intended to enter the food industry, but I figured it was where I would end up one day. With this, I have had the pleasure to be a marketing and PR intern with a creative PR and marketing agency, Ajenda Public Relations. Ajenda PR focuses on restaurants and franchises throughout Southern California and other various cities, which initially sparked my interest in the internship.
During my time at Ajenda PR, I was assigned to PR for an upcoming restaurant in Downtown Fullerton called Miirch Social. My supervisors tasked me with writing several press releases, managing and building the new restaurant’s Instagram, setting up their digital footprint, and a few creative projects regarding menu and business cards. While I already had a strong foundation in a few of these tasks, I further learned how to write strong press releases and gain social media marketing skills. Upon writing my first press release, I lacked confidence in my writing and second-guessed the pieces I would produce. However, after receiving feedback from my supervisors, I started to get the hang of it and found myself enjoying the writing process. Additionally, I used concepts and knowledge I had gained from various SCC courses and apply them to assignments, which further helped me succeed.
While the tasks that I embarked upon throughout this internship allowed me to gain critical skills in the PR and marketing industry, I discovered something far more important. I had believed I was destined to enter the food industry based on my past job experiences. However, my mindset changed, and I realized that food marketing was not where I wanted to start my career. I strongly believe that every internship is beneficial and essential to determine what you want to do with your career following college. Although I realized that I do not want to continue in restaurant PR, my internship with Ajenda PR taught me valuable skills, both personally and professionally, to apply to future endeavors. I am now aware of my passion for creative marketing, and I intend to shift gears and try other marketing industries until I find one that I am genuinely interested in. If it were not for this internship, I would not understand where I wanted to take my future, and I greatly appreciate this opportunity that has allowed me to expand my horizons.