Hey Hounds! This week on Highlighting Hounds, we are featuring senior William Manning ’25. This semester, William is diving into an exciting internship with our very own Campus Recreation Department, where he’s taken on a dual role as both a graphic design and marketing intern. From designing social media posts and flyers to filming weekly rec updates, William has gained hands-on experience in the world of digital marketing and design. But that’s not all—William’s journey doesn’t stop there! After studying abroad in Brisbane, Australia at the University of Queensland, he’s gained a new level of independence, adaptability, and a global perspective that’s made him even more eager to dive into his internship work. Keep reading to find out how this unique experience is helping William grow both professionally and personally!
Give a brief overview of the company that you intern with, as well as what your position is.
I’m currently interning with the Campus Rec Department right here at Assumption. My position is the graphic design intern, but over the course of the semester it’s sort of blended into both graphic design and marketing.
Describe a typical day as an intern. What are your day-to-day tasks and responsibilities?
The typical day tends to vary. Sometimes it’s designing an Instagram post advertising an upcoming intramural sport, or a flyer to put up around the Plourde building. Other days it’s helping out with a club sports team’s media day. One of the more routine responsibilities is filming episodes of “This Week in Campus Rec” every Friday, with my fellow marketing intern Quynh Bui, that highlights the last week of intramurals and looks ahead to what’s coming up and then editing that footage to post on the campus rec Instagram page.
What are your career goals? How will this internship help you reach those goals?
Going into this internship I was interested in working in the graphic design field post-grad, but as the semester has gone along, I’ve become more interested in working in the marketing space more broadly. Although I’m a communications and media major, this internship has definitely helped me get my feet wet in the marketing side of things, especially on the social media front.
What are your key takeaways from your experience? What skills did you gain from this internship?
The main thing I’m going to take away from my experience is that the workplace environment matters a lot. The people at campus rec really make it an enjoyable place to work, which makes the work itself enjoyable. Even though I’ve always been more of an independent worker, I’ve picked up more collaboration skills and just an overall openness to other ideas and perspectives.
Why did you apply to this internship? What aspects of the position/company interested you?
I applied to this internship to fulfill a class requirement for my communications degree, but I also knew that with coming off a semester abroad I needed to fill my time with something more than just classes, and this was the perfect opportunity to do all of that while getting experience. The position interested me because it was right here on campus, and also the fact that I felt more personal investment in it just because I’m a student here– as opposed to interning for some outside company.
How has your Assumption career prepared you for this internship?
My Assumption career has definitely helped prepare me for this internship. I think the liberal arts nature of the education here really prepared me to have an understanding of a little bit of everything, which helps when you come across new problems. Especially as my role has become more marketing focused, it has been super useful since I didn’t have a ton of marketing exposure prior to this internship… but I’ve been able to learn quickly because of the foundation of my Assumption career!
What advice would you give to a student who wants to participate in an internship?
I would say just be open to any potential opportunity, even if it doesn’t fit your major exactly or your future career goals perfectly because you will definitely pick up new skills, meet new people, and maybe even change your mind about what you want to do in the future.
Could you describe your experience from studying abroad in Brisbane, Australia? What did this experience teach you, and did the skills you obtained from this experience apply to your internship?
I spent the Spring 2024 semester studying abroad at the University of Queensland and lived in the city of Brisbane during this time. The experience definitely taught me to be more flexible–the style of education in Australia is pretty different from here at Assumption, so that was a learning experience in on its own. Living so far away from home also taught me a new level of independence, but at the same time, it taught me the importance of the people that are around you on a day-to-day basis because you do need people to lean on. Along with that, just being immersed in a different culture helped me look at things from a new perspective and have a more open mind to new experiences which has been applicable to my internship.
Describe your role as a Study Abroad Ambassador, as well as your key takeaways from this role and any translatable skills you’ve utilized or learned.
The role is all about promoting the study abroad programs here at Assumption, especially the global programs. We do this by hosting informational events, having a table at the club and activities fair to get the freshman interested, and being at the open house and academic fair. It’s really just marketing the study abroad programs here, so in that sense, it’s no different than marketing for an upcoming campus rec event or the next intramural sport which makes it a really nice pairing with my internship.
If you are interested in being featured on Highlighting Hounds or know of any students who would be a strong candidate, please email us at careerdevelopment@assumption.edu!
