As the 2018 OutGrowth summer comes to a close, we are reflecting on what was an incredible season, while looking forward to a new year of impact, adventure and life-changing experiences. No reflection would be complete without hearing from our incredible students, who made this year at OutGrowth one for the books.
In this week's Sprouting Forward, we feature Legacy Cohort Intern Victoria Doda, and get in the inside scoop (at various stages of her experience) on her 2018 OutGrowth internship. This is an especially-great read for those students who are considering joining the OutGrowth 2019 cohort!
What have you learned outside of the classroom that is directly applicable to your job?
Through my time here at Know Good, I have already learned a lot about working with a client. With designing the logo, I had a lot of different ideas. Through this process, I feel like I have a better understanding of how challenging working with a client can be, but also how rewarding it is to come up with an idea that they love. This singular situation has taught me more than I could ever get from “working with a client” in a classroom.
Adaptability is essential in the workplace. Discuss a time when you struggled to be especially adaptable or flexible.
An internship of this nature, living on-site and with new people, is full of being adaptable and flexible. Not only am I adapting to new people and a new environment, but I am adapting to a new way of working. Honestly, while in school, a lot of my projects were done at night. I would go to class, then come home and relax a little and then work on projects and such. Given the scheduling of things, I’ve had to adjust how I work. I can’t be staying up very late, because I have to get up at 6am to do farm work, which in itself is a very tiring task (especially if you’re not used to it). The first week was truly a challenge. But by week two, I was meeting my deadlines and producing something my client was very happy with.
What advice would you give to a subsequent intern for success at this site?
The best advice I have to offer is to keep a positive attitude and be as open-minded as you can. If you go into a task thinking there is no way you could ever complete it, you simply are not going to. Take each day as it comes and try to make the most of the time you have, because it goes quick. It is crazy that I have already been here for two weeks and there are still so many things I want to accomplish in the coming weeks.
Was the internship what you expected? What did you get out of the experience?
I in no way thought that working with a client was going to be so frustrating, exciting and rewarding, all at the same time. It was harder than I thought, but so worth it in the end. Through my experience, I had the chance to meet some amazing people who I would never have had the opportunity to be in contact with. I had the chance to learn about how to live a sustainable lifestyle, and overall how to be a better designer in the sense that I now know how to work with a client. Given the chance, I would do it all over again, no questions asked.
Did you complete your learning objectives?
Yes, I wanted to deepen my understanding (outside the classroom) of marketing and design while working with a real-life client. I did exactly that.
Did you enjoy this industry?
Yes. This internship made me realize that I am for sure on the right career path. Designing for other people and making them happy is what I want to be doing.
Would you consider working for this company after you graduate?
I would 100% love to work for OutGrowth in the future. It is such a great company and I would love to be part of it in years to come.
Victoria Doda is a senior at Stevenson University, and just completed her OutGrowth Visual Communications internship at Know Good Farm during the summer 2018 season. Taking on a mix of marketing, photography and graphic design work, Victoria is ambitious and driven, and created real business impact at Know Good Farm, which will make a tremendous difference in the seasons and years to come.