By Summer Thompson

This summer, I worked for the City of Abilene Office of Neighborhood Services as an intern. My job was to help the mayor implement ANI (Abilene Neighborhood Initiative). As a response to the task given to me by the mayor, I conducted research that included interviewing all the city managers, the mayor and the interim director of neighborhood services.

In addition, I did research on Chapter 380 Legal Agreements. I researched different cities similar to Abilene by population and cities in the metroplex, and I researched the United States HUD department’s policies and grants that are allocated. I also traveled around to the different neighborhoods in Abilene to understand the community needs.

As a result of my findings, I wrote a resolution to promote infill build and neighborhood revitalization for Abilene. The revitalization solution that I found through my research was that Abilene should implement a mission network called 6Stones. 6Stones is a Christ-centered organization that “serves as a neutral convener bringing together local governments, businesses, churches, and other non-profits to jointly seek to transform” their local neighborhoods and communities.

This internship gave me an opportunity to further develop my research skills and advocate for change that will help many people in Abilene. I was given the trust to work independently on my project and got to collaborate with many different city officials. As a result of my work, my internship supervisor said she would be willing to offer me employment after graduation. But until then, I am looking forward to finishing school and presenting my resolution to Abilene’s City Hall before the end of this year.

By: Madeline Fortner

Change Lives. Achieve the Extraordinary. Be a great team. These bold statements are the cornerstone everyday life at ServiceTitan, the software company I had the privilege of working with this summer in Glendale, CA. During my eight week internship, I worked on two large projects and had the opportunity to participate in numerous learning and development initiatives.

The primary project I worked on was rewriting and revamping the online-training webinar program that is offered weekly to customers. I created a six-part training series that included a curriculum, powerpoints, and facilitator guides. The biggest challenged I faced in developing these trainings was how to keep the audience engaged during a computer-mediated training. I applied training and development theory as well as numerous education strategies to the curriculum in order to create an engaging training that customers could not only understand but enjoy.

The other project I worked on was the company-wide Hackathon, a four-day event where teams got to solve any problem that impacted the company. I both served on the planning committee and competed with my own team. As a member of the planning committee, I was in charge of marketing the event. I created flyers and hosted meetings to build interest and facilitate team creation. Additionally, I was the product manager for my own team. Together, we developed a fully-functioning software solution that addressed one of our customers biggest pain points, tracking permits. During this process, I was able to utilize critical thinking, public speaking, and leadership skills I learned through communication, while also gaining new skills in product management. We presented our product to the entire company, including the CEO’s and were awarded “Best Customer-Focused Product” for the event. Even more exciting is the fact that we created a software solution that will save ServiceTitan Customers time, money, and headache. I feel proud knowing that something I made will make the daily lives of thousands of hardworking people all over the country a little bit easier.  Not all internships offer students that level of opportunity.

Some of the perks of interning with ServiceTitan included free lunches delivered to the office through Eat Club each day, access to linked-in learning, team outings, and career development workshops. Although these extras were exciting and showed me that ServiceTitan was invested in my success and wellbeing, they are not the reason I would recommend this internship. Student’s should consider interning with ServiceTitan because it is an opportunity to work alongside an extraordinary team who will empower them to take charge of their ideas and create change that benefits the lives of the customers who use the software every day.

Exploring Public Memory and Civil Discourse in Great Britain

“Now, when I hear London, Edinburgh, Venice, Paris, or any of the other places I’ve been, I have my own images in my head rather than relying on what the media has portrayed for me. I also learned so much about myself and what my strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to travel and independence.”
– Christine Dottle

In addition to making memories and exploring new places, studying abroad offers students an opportunity to learn in a location connected to the context they are studying. This summer, COSO sponsored a study abroad trip to Oxford and Great Britain that was led by communication professor Dr. Lauren Lemley. Students on this trip were offered the chance to take two special topics course — The Rhetoric of Public Memory and Black Mirror: Communication and Technology.

To study public memory, students visited numerous historical sites and museums. The purpose of the course was to compare the way Americans remember significant past events to how people from other countries and cultures do. In Oxford, they visited a J.R.R. Tolkien exhibit as well as Kilns the home of C.S. Lewis. The class also took a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland and visited Loch Ness. Christine Dottle, a communication major said that visiting the Churchill War Rooms in London was particularly impactful. Dottle said she learned more about the war there than she ever had before. Her testimony is a tribute to the power of experiential learning and the value of studying abroad.

By Rachel Jones

Disclaimer: If you’re looking for a slow-paced summer job making smoothies, licking envelopes, or forgetting what you learned in school, this internship isn’t for you. If you want to be challenged to put communication theory into practice while getting the chance to make an impact among our nation’s leaders, intern with Pinkston Group. 

This past summer, I had the incredible opportunity to intern at The Pinkston Group, which is a Communications and Public Relations firm located in the Washington D.C. area. It was an invaluable experience, and one I would highly recommend to anyone seeking a life-changing investment, not to mention a glamorous, exciting time in the nation’s capital!

In my time at The Pinkston Group, I learned how, even as a lowly intern with no experience, to make myself relevant and important. I used what I learned in persuasion with Dr. Sharp Penya to motivate high ranking reporters to listen to me. I used my insights from the rhetoric of pop culture with Dr. Lemley to make my content competitive to a news agency with dozens of options. I learned how to write Op-Eds that actually got read, how to sell a story in 5 seconds, and how things really work behind the scenes in our nation’s capital.

The staff at the Pinkston Group made the experience all around enjoyable and fulfilling. They took time out of their fast-paced days and looming deadlines to answer any and all my “intern” questions. I learned from them how to use an Oxford comma, how to make a personal portfolio, how to live ethically in the world of PR, and they even assisted me in exploring a career path that fit my interests.

By: Stephanie Flores

As a recipient of the 2018 Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship from the government, I got to spend the Summer in the Amazon rainforest learning about Indigenous culture and Quichua language. It was an experience like no other. I got to learn alongside brilliant graduate students from all across the country. The skills I learned about ethical research in class definitely came in handy. I realized the way non-indigenous people communicate about the Amazon and its people, perpetuates stereotypes and misconceptions of the reality of the region.

Since my interest is on multiculturalism and political communication, I attended political communal meetings and spoke to many indigenous political leaders. All of their stories and observations I made informed me on how I can best approach my research when writing my graduate Thesis.

During this memorable experience I met amazing people and learn so much from them, I know they are now colleagues with whom I can collaborate in the future. I also had lots of fun, I have never seen anything as beautiful as the Amazon rainforest. We held classes outside with the Napo river roaring sounds in the background and surrounded by beautiful flora and fauna. Sometimes a tarantula, different-colored millipedes and butterflies would join us in class. Two of my favorite encounters with Amazonian animals were when I got to hold a baby sloth and when we took a trip to Yasuni National Park, which is the most biologically diverse place on the planet. I only have one word to describe Yasuni: WOW.

I got to interact with Waorani Indigenous people, whose tribe first got contacted by outsiders only 50 years ago; I learned that there are still many Waorani communities who still reject all contact with the outside world. Amazonians are truly fascinating people. I got to see flora that you would only see in fantasy and science fiction movies; I got to walk next to jaguar paw prints, I saw macaws, toucans, pink dolphins, monkeys, among many other animals. I also got to see the influence of oil in the region and the impact we humans have in our planet, which made me very sad, but definitely made me a more eco-conscious individual. This was an experience that has shaped my views about the Amazon and indigenous people and has provided me with the skills to be a better communicator and global citizen.