Internships: Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they are something I consider essential in the professional development of a young college student such as myself. Spending four years in a classroom learning definitions and writing essays is helpful, and it’s a great way to be introduced to what you will allegedly be doing in the real world, but it’s internships that really throw you into that “real world.”

My summer internship for Appency was amazing. I’m not just saying that to suck up, either – it was truly one of the best and most beneficial experiences I’ve had in my life. Actually coming in at 9 in the morning, sitting down at a desk, and working until 5 in the evening showed me the world of a full-time job. I realized that student life is very different, in both good and bad ways.

Being thrown research projects (some with extremely urgent deadlines), asked questions at accounts meetings, and managing clients are all in a days work for the full-time employees at Appency. As an intern, I helped with all of those projects. Instead of reading a chapter on press releases out of a textbook, I was writing them. Instead of being lectured on theories of press relations, I was tracking down journalists to pitch.

May through the end of August: That was the length of my summer internship with Appency. In those four months, I can honestly say I learned more about my major than I did in the past four years of classes and homework. At the end of of those four months, I’m more prepared and more excited for a career in public relations than I was before.

Troy Petrunoff is graduating from CSUS and looking forward to a career in public relations after years of involvement in PRSSA, Pi Kappa Phi, and work as a campus tour guide.