Humanities Internship Spotlight
Olivia Haslam | Claire Le Gallo | Suin Jo | Jack William Valentine
Humanities students gain valuable, career-ready skills through their coursework and co-curricular programs. Internships offer an essential opportunity to apply these skills in real-world settings, explore potential career paths, and gain professional experience. For many students, completing an internship is a key step in successfully transitioning from college to the workplace.
Olivia Haslam
Major(s): Communication
Internship: Consor Civil Engineering
Role: Public Involvement Intern
I have been a Public Involvement intern at CONSOR Civil Engineers for about a year and a half now. I work on a small team of three, managing over 30 high-stakes construction projects that involve significant stakeholder interaction across the state of Utah.
We facilitate communication between the public affected by construction projects and our clients, who are often municipalities, the Utah Department of Transportation, or contractors. We communicate with the public through flyers, social media, emails, in-person visits, 24/7 hotlines, etc.
Right now, one of our most significant projects is Cottonwoods Connection, a 72-inch water pipe that spans from the Big Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant to the Little Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant, passing through over 160 stakeholder backyards and front yards. This project, crucial for the region's water supply, requires daily interaction with stakeholders, as people are deeply affected by the work happening in their yards.
Another large project we are working on is Belt Line 7 on South Temple in Salt Lake City for Enbridge Gas. This project, vital for the gas supply in the area and less invasive than Cottonwoods Connection, takes place on one of the busiest roads in Salt Lake, often involving interactions with the public.
Our projects range from small trails in the town of Goshen to large-scale projects like the ones listed above, all of which have a significant impact on the communities they serve. I have learned countless communication strategies from this internship. Often, when I speak with a stakeholder face-to-face, they meet me with frustration and anger. This can be jarring, but when they are met with empathy, understanding, and grace, they often calm down, allowing us to come up with a solution that benefits both them and our clients.
Another skill I have developed is my strategic writing. We attend construction meetings
that are often confusing and translate them into understandable updates for our stakeholders,
which we send out through email or flyers. These updates undergo multiple proofreads
by our team before they are sent to the public. Sometimes I write the first draft,
and other times I act as the editor and make edits.
My internship has prepared me to work in multiple disciplines while managing many tasks in my current role. It has trained me in the Adobe Suite, reading and understanding branding guides (UDOT has a very in-depth branding guide), working collaboratively with a team, and using a Canon camera. The list can go on and on.
This summer, I managed my own project, The Goshen Center Street Trail (pictured in one of my submitted photos). I was responsible for every aspect of the project, from planning to execution. I submitted the Public Involvement plan, created a flyer, coordinated flyer efforts, answered and addressed stakeholder concerns on the hotline, attended weekly meetings, hosted a project ribbon cutting, and submitted a post-project report. This project taught me a lot about our processes and provided an excellent opportunity to demonstrate my leadership and project management skills.
I was drawn to this internship because of the brand's mission; they are a sustainable brand combining recycling with fashion. This is so needed right now with the ever-growing fast fashion industry. Even though a social media internship wasn’t initially one of my interests, I was passionate about the mission and decided to try it. I contribute to Five 12 by taking photoshoots twice a month, posting 3-4 times a week on Instagram, and 1-2 times a month on TikTok and YouTube.
A challenge I am facing is how to be authentic and genuine as a brand, while still striving to improve engagement on posts. I keep the voice the same across posts and don’t lean too far into trends because this brand wants to keep a serious tone, so I focus on making our photoshoots/content unique and brand centered.
In the future, I hope to pursue a career as a journalist, so I think the overlap of this social media internship has taught me how to create content that is engaging to the audience. As a journalist, you need to ask yourself: how do I connect with my audience better? How can I reach more people? I want to focus on how to make my content clickable without being clickbait, and this internship is showing me how to build up that sort of engagement.
I joined the IFEZ Global Center as a Video Production Intern, first taking part as a video host and later moving into the position of editor. This change allowed me to explore my passion for storytelling through visuals and connect my work more closely with my long-term goal of producing creative media that communicates effectively across cultures.
I was especially drawn to this internship because it gave me the opportunity to work on projects for international residents in Korea, which helped me think deeply about how to deliver information clearly and meaningfully to people from different backgrounds.
During the internship, I actively participated in idea meetings where I helped turn broad creative concepts into realistic video plans from an editing point of view. One of my favorite projects was a promotional video for a Korean speaking contest, which I edited in the style of a movie trailer. It was a meaningful experience because I could express my imagination freely and enjoy the process of creating something new. At the same time, I learned the importance of accepting feedback from our client, the IFEZ Global Center. I realized that what I found interesting might not always fit the client’s goals, so I worked hard to maintain a clear and logical story even after all the filming was finished.
Working closely with my team helped me improve my communication and professionalism. I learned not to be afraid of feedback or take it personally but instead use it as a tool for improvement. Our team shared honest opinions and focused on collaboration rather than individual preferences. Through this experience, I developed stronger editing skills as well as confidence in teamwork and creative problem solving, which I will carry into my future projects.
Jack William Valentine
Major(s): Communication
Internship: Big-D Construction
Role: Social Media Intern
I wanted to have an internship over the summer so I could add relevant work experience to my resume that aligns with my major. I applied to work at Big-D because I wanted to experience what it would be like to work in both a construction company and a corporate marketing team.
Over the summer, I spent time visiting job sites and creating content for Instagram and LinkedIn, which involved both interview-style and b-roll videos. Once the school year began, I transitioned to more of a video editing/logistics role. I would research videographers that we would hire, and then once they sent us back what they filmed, I would turn videos into social content.
Working at Big-D significantly improved my video production skills and my ability to convey messages effectively in my content. At Big-D, I would spend a lot of time determining what message a particular post should send and if any aspects of it could potentially harm the brand. I also learned how to work with a medium-sized group of people (there were four of us in the marketing office) on a common goal and how to do a little bit of everything so I could be of the most use to everyone on the team.
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Any views, experiences, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this student internship highlight do not necessarily represent those of the College of Humanities.