First Day Nerves and Mixed Emotions

Hi everyone!

I began my internship at Event and Conference Co in March, with very little idea of what to expect. Having worked as a nanny since I finished school, sitting at a desk for eight hours a day was a concept I was most certainly not familiar with and had wanted to avoid for as long as possible. What do I do for lunch? Do I eat at my desk? Do I have to spend my whole day sitting at my computer? What if I get bored?

In addition to this, I wasn’t 100% sure that a career in events was something that I wanted to pursue. Throughout my university life, I had perceived the events side of PR as strenuous planning and a lot of work- something in which my inner lazy-self was not prepared for. I had always envisioned myself pursuing a career in the corporate sector, writing media releases and managing stakeholder relations for a resource company or something like that.

Like most people, as my first day approached I quickly became a bundle of nervous energy, doubting my abilities and worried about what everyone would think of me. Thankfully, all my anxiousness disappeared within the first few hours of my first day. Event and Conference Co has two staff members that work in the office on a full-time basis. Generally, everyone else working in the office on a regular basis is also completing an internship- whether it be for uni or their own work experience. I got lucky, in that not only is everyone extremely welcoming and understanding of each other- we’re all interns and we’re all learning- the vast majority of those completing internships are also from Curtin!

In my first few days at ECC, I would try to spend my whole day working on only one or two tasks; partly because I wanted to make sure I got them right, and also partly because I was sure I had no idea what I was doing (what is a risk assessment plan???). Thankfully, I’m no longer afraid to ask for help or clarification when I get given a task. I really feel like everyone’s patience and support has helped me improve my skill set as a budding PR practitioner- I’m a lot more confident in my abilities and am eager to try new things.

I’m still not sure whether I would want to pursue a career in events after I’ve graduated, but I definitely have a greater appreciation and admiration now for what goes on behind the scenes, and just how hard people have to work to get everything perfect.

I guess we will just have to wait and see!

Bye for now,

Clare