Our Intern of the Week – Alex Bohn – is a fellow Zag from Spokane, WA. Alex and I worked together at Gonzaga as part of the student-run public relations firm. Also, we have both held internships at a boutique public relations firm in Spokane, Let It Shine. Below she shares what it’s like to juggle school and a job and the importance of loving what you do.

How did you get your internship?

My current internship is with a boutique media agency in Spokane called Let it Shine media.  My primary role is working with the non-profit Great Shape! Inc. and doing their public relations and social media monitoring.  How I came across this internship was by a friend of mine Nicole Raisch.  She was graduating and I was looking to her for any advice she could give for getting an internship.  From here, she passed me over to Lucinda Kay and the rest is history.  I have been with Let it Shine since September and have been enjoying every moment.

What has been the most challenging/rewarding aspect of intern life?

This is my first internship, so I had no idea what to expect.  When I hear the word intern, I almost immediately think coffee-runner and human stapler.  While this is true at some internships, this is not the case at Let it Shine.  Here, I am encouraged to think outside the box and create things that some interns only dream of.  I have had one on one access with the press and been given amazing connections that i know will help me in the long run.  With everything, there is a challenge. The only one that I have with Let it Shine is maintaining my school/intern life balance.  Now that I am about to graduate, and writing my thesis, time management has become something I know I need to work on.

What advice/questions do you have for other interns?

Some advice for other interns—love what you do.  If you don’t, then try to find something you love about it.  It will make the days shorter and the memories fonder and you might actually have fun at work (I know it’s quite the oxymoron)

How do you all manage your school/intern life?

Along with my internship, I am co-president of the student-run public relations firm on campus through our chapter of PRSSA, properly named TheFIRM.  In this position, I manage the clients that we work with, pro-bono, and make sure that communication between the teams and their clients are running smoothly.  We worked with two on-campus organizations to plan and execute events such as recruitment week while also creating media kits for both organizations, documents that they didn’t have before we came in.  Both of these organizations have shown great appreciation for what we have done, and even have requested our services next year!  I am so excited to see where TheFIRM is going to go, and hope it can be a bigger and better known service on Gonzaga’s campus.

You can read more about Alex’s experience on LinkedIn, and connect with her on Twitter.