Humanities Internship Spotlight
Griffin S. Franz | Kyla Wagner | Seoyoon Park
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.
This summer, I had the opportunity to intern as a Sales, Marketing, and Client Service Associate at Sterling Capital Management. During this experience, I learned a lot about different aspects of investment management, especially how mutual funds and separately managed accounts are distributed. I helped the internal sales team by generating leads, reaching out to clients, and verifying client data, which played a role in Sterling's sales and marketing efforts. I regularly used Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and Excel to keep up-to-date records of financial advisors, broker-dealers, and institutional clients. I also gained insights into Sterling's fund types, such as separately managed accounts, mutual funds, and model portfolios. Additionally, I assisted internal teams with audits and updated sales territories.
Throughout the internship, I developed my skills in professional communication, data management, and marketing investment products. I participated in team calls, attended weekly product meetings, and worked on client service tasks. These experiences helped me understand how asset management works and its strategic aspects. I really saw the value of being precise, organized, and good at managing relationships in the financial services industry.
Overall, this internship sharpened my marketing, sales support, and client service skills while providing me with valuable exposure to the investment world. I am grateful for the knowledge and experience I gained at Sterling Capital.
My internship with Bering Finishes has been eye-opening. Throughout my college education, I have been teetering between different fields and occupations, unsure of what I wanted to do with my future. I knew I wanted a corporate job, but I wasn't sure where to start. I learned about this internship through a family friend and went into the experience thinking this would be a good thing to put on my resume.
I found exactly what I was looking for. I never expected to want a career in flooring or any part of the construction industry, but as I learned more daily, I fell in love with this industry. I enjoy the simple tasks of making/shipping samples, taking calls from customers, placing orders, making LTL (a mode of shipping for items that are too large for standard delivery but too small for a whole truck) shipments across the country, and problem-solving.
I love having a job where I feel like I matter, and I like feeling important at the company. Bering is only composed of ten employees, and I feel special to be a part of it. I’ll be joining the team full time after I receive my Bachelor's in December, and I'm excited to see where it will take me!
One of the main reasons I chose the internship at the Office of External Relations was the opportunity to gain real experience in content-driven communication. What appealed most was the chance to be involved in the whole process — identifying target audiences, crafting strategic messages, and overseeing content delivery across multiple platforms. I was especially excited about working in a bilingual, cross-cultural environment where Korean and English are essential. One standout experience was serving as the main host for a special lecture featuring NATO’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Planning, Major General Tony Wright. Beyond simply emceeing, I coordinated rehearsals, managed time logistics, and facilitated a smooth panel discussion. Because the event covered a complex and formal topic, global security, I had to balance professionalism and accessibility. The positive feedback I received reinforced my belief that communication isn't just about content creation, it's about experience design.
This internship helped me bridge theory and practice from my communication major. I realized that concepts like audience segmentation and message framing were not just academic but core to every project I took on. Whether drafting email campaigns or assisting with public-facing events, I was always thinking about who the audience was and what kind of response we wanted to elicit. I built an intense routine centered on prioritized to-do lists to manage the internship alongside classes and personal life. I made sure each day had a clear focus: internship tasks in the morning, lectures in the afternoon, and assignments and rest at night. My approach wasn’t to be perfect, but to stay consistent and finish at least one key task each day, and that strategy made a real difference.