Putting Your Balancing Skills to the Test

 By Elizabeth Banta, Dallas Trainee, Junior at SMU

Balance: The one thing most students hope to find in their four years at a university, but not all have the power to achieve. As a junior at Southern Methodist University, the pressure to find balance is on. Balance of work and play, balance of staying up late and too little sleep—and the hardest one of all, balance between interning and classes.

At first, I thought this would be the easiest for me to manage, but no one can prepare you for the working world until you throw yourself into it full force. I started interning in the summer after my sophomore year at Good Housekeeping magazine. Being able to work in an environment with such talented people in a city full of passionate employees working hard (while some are hardly working) inspired me to be the best I could be. The fast-paced work with strict deadlines sharpened my class skills over the summer. At summer’s end, I returned to Dallas to begin my junior year and embark on a new adventure: Edelman.

My internship at Edelman began in August; I have been loving every second of it. Interning at Edelman puts my balance skills to the test: I have hands-on experience with real-world clients every day, then go home to homework at night. Going to school only three days per week while interning the other two has made this juggle more bearable, but it is very difficult to want to go to school when you have had a taste of the working world. Edelman provides an intern experience beyond my expectations. The staff is understanding and always enhancing my work experience. Without them, interning wouldn’t be as rewarding.

In the future, I hope to go back to the east coast to continue my pursuit of happiness in the working world. The thrill of working in New York City combined with the challenges of working at an agency would be ideal. As for right now, I plan to graduate a semester early, in December 2011. I am so fortunate to have had two fantastic internship opportunities under my belt—I can only hope for more success in the future.