Graduating senior finds career direction through internship program

Graduating senior finds career direction through internship program

The Historic Turnage Theater, located on Main Street in Washington, N.C., has a rich history as a shoe store, a vaudeville theater, and a movie theater for "the talkies." Today, it houses the Beaufort County Arts Council, which was founded in the 1970's. The council enriches the community by supporting a large network of local artists and offering a range of artistic programs for students throughout Beaufort County.

Bronté Labbé, curator and engagement director for the council, said, "We're unique in that we own our own event space. The theater makes it possible to serve visual as well as performing artists and all kinds of creatives in between."

Labbé says organization leaders have been focusing on increasing their marketing efforts and are looking to further incorporate technology that will make operations easier and more efficient.

To help them in that journey, the organization leveraged their partnership with the SECU Public Fellows Internship (PFI) program, led by ECU's office of innovation and engagement, and sought an administrative and marketing intern.

Kayla Wenzel, a senior majoring in management information systems with an interest in the arts, wanted to pursue a non-standard internship experience before graduating. She liked the idea that the PFI program provided compensation and was geared toward helping nonprofits, so she applied for several positions advertised with the program.

Wenzel said, "I'm not a marketing major, but I have a passion for the arts. I've worked as a night market manager for local vendors and love providing spaces that smaller artists otherwise wouldn't have. When I saw this position advertised, I thought, 'I'm going to try it.'"

"Kayla jumped right in and got stuff done," said Labbé.

Wenzel said she didn't know what to expect from an internship and was surprised when she was tasked with important duties.

"I found myself creating an inventory system for all of the archives upstairs. I'm looking at all of this history, and I'm thinking, 'Oh my gosh. This is a big deal. Shouldn't someone be holding my hand for this?' But it showed they trusted and believed in me."

While the team trusted their intern, Wenzel wasn't as confident in some of the tasks originally planned for the role. Her supervisors wanted to see her succeed so they adjusted her projects.

"She was vocal about her strengths and weaknesses, and we were able to pivot her tasks so she felt confident going forward," said Labbé.

"With the social media work and understanding a brand's voice, especially in a smaller town, I was afraid I would accidentally say something wrong. So, they put me on a project making how-to videos for the fundraiser website," Wenzel said.

Other assigned projects included creating a sponsorship guide that highlighted benefits and packages, setting up art exhibitions, assisting with events and summer camps and introducing the organization to helpful technology - a task more closely aligned with Wenzel's field of focus.

"In this current project, I'm assessing the company's use cases and the current systems they have for managing the team, clients, schedules and emails. They were using five different processes for that. I'm working on consolidating that for them through a project management tool and getting them converted to that system," she said. "This will help streamline their operation with today's technology."

Labbé said that's something she's been wanting for the council.

"I've been hoping to incorporate a successful project management tool for some time," said Labbé. "This really will help us going forward."

Participating in the internship ahead of fall graduation, Wenzel said the experience provided clarity and direction for her career.

"I didn't really know what I should do after this, but the internship has given me a focus so I'm not out there applying for any office job or anything IT-related. It's helped me see that I like helping businesses. So, I want to continue as a business analyst, helping businesses utilize new technological advances," she said.

Wenzel said she gained so much from the internship and encourages others to take advantage of the program at ECU.

"I think it's good for everybody to work in a nonprofit area," said Wenzel. "Everyone wears a million different hats. It was awesome and inspiring to see how the team worked together to get everything done."

Labbé hopes others take advantage as well.

"The mission of this internship is amazing. There's such a need for programs like this, especially within rural communities. Having more support helps us be able to serve more people and work as this bigger machine to achieve our goal," she said.

The Beaufort County Arts Council is offering additional internships for the school year and is advertising marketing positions through ECU's Handshake system.

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