Miss Pearl City: Internships and good opportunities

Happy April!

Wow, this year is flying by. Just wanted to fill you all in on what I’ve been up to lately!

The morning after I got back to school from spring break, I flew out to Orlando for my weeklong internship with Z Option. Z Option is a SAP software partner company that provides tools and solutions that integrate into the SAP system to make it more user friendly. If you have no clue what I’m talking about, SAP is an accounting software that businesses use to upload financial data. Some of Z Option’s customers, that I had the opportunity to meet representatives from, are Nike, John Deere, Kraft Foods and Genentech.

I’m not even sure if I can describe this crazy and amazing experience. On Tuesday morning, I found myself in a huge exhibit hall surrounded by businessmen in suits. The first thought that came to my mind was, “where are the women?” I am so confident that I’ve chosen the right issue to promote through my platform. But for some odd reason, despite my age and gender, I felt like I belonged there.

To sum up the week, the three other interns and I worked on the sales and marketing team, ultimately doing public relations. We met with current and potential customers and built positive relationships with them. Thankfully we had a day-long training day so that we were able to answer general questions about the company and its tools. The trade show went on from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and then after that, we went to dinner with customers of the company. They were LONG days, but I learned more in that week about business than I could learn in any class.

Don’t worry, the interns got to go to Disney’s Hollywood Studios when the week culminated! It was a little difficult missing a week of classes, but I’m so thankful to have been selected for this opportunity. I’m actually in the process of writing an article about this for the newspaper, so I’ll be sure to post a link once it gets online!

I’ve been playing catch up this week! Last night I was able to take some time to meet with my mentor, Kyle DeBeer, who is the public relations coordinator for the Belton school district. It’s always great to pick his brain. Today, I attended the Women in Business Forum featuring speaker Madge Meyer. I’d like to talk about some of the things I learned in the near future. Tonight, I’ll be heading to Salado for the American Business Women Association’s local chapter meeting. Can’t wait to spend time with successful and philanthropic businesswomen in Central Texas.

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Iowa for a weekend of shopping and prep with my fabulous Executive Director, Ashley! I'm so excited to be back on Iowa soil.

I’ll post next week to share what I’m learning and experiencing!

Below are some photos from my internship!