Terrance Pigues ‘14 –As I shake hands with alumnus Tim Lyons ’91 in the lobby of where my internship is located, I can feel that something isn’t right.
We walk into the office of Wasabi Rabbit and what I originally interpreted as a room of future coworkers laughing and enjoying their job, quickly became room filled with silence and greetings. I couldn’t put my finger on what this eerie feeling was that I received. Suddenly, my boss invited to his office and shut the door. He said, “You know Terrance, you don’t need to wear a suit. It’s summertime in New York City…”. Finally a sign of relief came over me and all I could think about getting back to Scott Crawford’s office to fuse at him about how his work-attire policy made me an outcast on my first day on the job! But as soon as I had mastered the professional New York summertime style, the magic at the office began to unfold.
This internship has taken me for an adventure from the very first day on the job, and I’m not done yet. After I got the chance to meet everyone at the office and briefings were done (in reference to what I would be doing for the next couple of weeks), my duties as an account executive intern were underway.
With an understanding of what I was supposed to do and a good ole’ Wabash alumnus as my boss, Tim threw me into the world of marketing/advertising head-first to work with him in the digital world.
Getting Into It
My job started in full swing! There was no time to ease my way into the workload because a lot needed to be done and we were the ones responsible for getting it done. As you can imagine, the first week was rough. And it wasn’t just the workload that made it so either. My internship started mid-summer because I was completing a study-abroad program in Shangahi, China. Upon my arrival back to the US, I was severely jet-lagged, but that didn’t stop me from going straight to New York from China. Every day of the first week I was in bed by 10pm. It was also brought to my attention that I wasn’t the only intern in the office as well that I was one of three interns here! This really pushed me to speed up my learning curve; I didn’t want to slow down progress because I was the “new guy”. Everything my boss discussed with me I googled, so I could learn what he was talking about and learn how to do it. I stayed later than all other employees my first week and spent that time reading information about the digital marketing industry and bringing myself up to speed with everyone else. I reviewed client info with my boss and even learn how to use certain programs that he used to help understand how users would interact with websites (user interface) in a few days. We then put my new found abilities to work and developed presentations to show to clients all in the first week! To top things off, my boss and I enjoyed an eleven hour workday , my first Friday, to finish up some documents that needed to be completed before the weekend. This was my introduction to New York City…
The CEO wants to meet.
My second week on the job, John Mustin (the CEO of Wasabi Rabbit) returns from a meeting in Washington, DC. I had already had my workload nearly full to capacity but then I receive a Skype chat from the CEO which read, “let’s meet in my office in 15 minutes.” He called that meeting to explain what he wanted me to do for the company during my internship. In addition to already working with my boss and his clients, now the CEO wanted me to help update their company website with wide array of new information. He also has me taking the lead to plan a small conference for Wasabi Rabbit, which will take place in the fall. That task is the easiest because I can use my skills developed over time as the PR Chair for the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies. However, for the rest of the action items, I would be putting in some serious work!
My boss ditches me!
A couple weeks in, I learn that my boss has a vacation coming up very soon. After asking him whether or not I would receive a vacation and being told no, Tim explains to me that I would still be meeting with his clients and finalizing some variables for him. And so I did. Tim’s second in command and myself met with the clients this week and finalized everything that he needed of us while he is away. And I’ve still been working on multiple projects as well. He won’t be disappointed when he returns.
“Concrete jungle where dreams are made of…”
Thanks to the Small Business Internship Fund, being in New York has definitely been a fun experience. The people are always moving. The city is bustling. And most importantly, I’m enjoying the opportunities here. I used the career services mentor link to locate alumni and meet with them as well because no Wabash funded internship should is complete without networking with post-graduate Wallies! I enjoyed an awesome birthday and even got treated by a “Danni” too. All around, I’ve experienced an awesome city with a lot of diversity. And who can forget about standing in Time Square, starring at a giant poster of the epic movie, “The Dark Knight Rises”. Currently, I still a few weeks left so I should probably get back to work while my boss is on vacation because secretly, “I’m running the show.”
Terrance Pigues ‘14