LINK ANTICIPATION AND PREPARATION and Reflection
In 11th grade at Animas all juniors are required to go on a 3 week internship in a field they are interested in. I started with the process for trying to find a LINK knowing one thing,that I wanted to own a business. I wanted to find a shop that I felt comfortable in and would learn well. I looked into hair salons and other business, but I didn't connect to any of them. I started to get nervous that I wasn't going to find anything. That’s when I decided to go look into Lively, a boutique downtown Durango. I knew the owner already from past experiences and her store always gave me such a good feeling. Lively is a store that strives to have excellent customer service while selling fashion forward clothes. I am so happy Johnna from Lively decided to be my mentor! I was going to be learning about how she runs her business and everything that goes into it, like customer service and merchandising. I hoped to gain experience and see if I actually want to own my own business someday. Going into this internship I hoped to bring my own ideas and style to the store. I also had some already developed skills in working with customers and checking people out from my time working for McDonalds, which I knew could help me be successful.
For my Link project I wanted to benefit both Animas and Lively. I brought up the idea to Johnna about holding a fundraising event for Animas High School! She then said she would love to do a fundraiser for AHS! We then started to spread the word. I made a flyer and we made events on Facebook. I then emailed several people that I thought would be interested in coming. I emailed Libby, our Assistant Head of School, and she put it into the school newsletter, News of the Nest. After the 3 weeks was done I found I learned so many skills that I honestly didn't even consider.
I didn't realize there was so much to learn! The most important skill I learned was customer service. I am a very shy person and with this job you have to be able to be personable and sell clothes to give people a great experience. I learned how to be a little less shy and to welcome people into the store joyfully. I was also taught some talking points and what to do if someone goes into the dressing room and they request help to find them a better size or style. It was a lot to learn at first. The phone rang occasionally throughout each day and I had to answer it and I at first I was so bad at communicating; I stuttered and felt like I sounded rude. For individuals like me with bad people skills, I feel like working at places like Lively can be so beneficial in learning those skills, especially if you have an understanding mentor. This internship has also prepared me for college because now I know what i want to learn more about and improve my people skills.
For my Link project I wanted to benefit both Animas and Lively. I brought up the idea to Johnna about holding a fundraising event for Animas High School! She then said she would love to do a fundraiser for AHS! We then started to spread the word. I made a flyer and we made events on Facebook. I then emailed several people that I thought would be interested in coming. I emailed Libby, our Assistant Head of School, and she put it into the school newsletter, News of the Nest. After the 3 weeks was done I found I learned so many skills that I honestly didn't even consider.
I didn't realize there was so much to learn! The most important skill I learned was customer service. I am a very shy person and with this job you have to be able to be personable and sell clothes to give people a great experience. I learned how to be a little less shy and to welcome people into the store joyfully. I was also taught some talking points and what to do if someone goes into the dressing room and they request help to find them a better size or style. It was a lot to learn at first. The phone rang occasionally throughout each day and I had to answer it and I at first I was so bad at communicating; I stuttered and felt like I sounded rude. For individuals like me with bad people skills, I feel like working at places like Lively can be so beneficial in learning those skills, especially if you have an understanding mentor. This internship has also prepared me for college because now I know what i want to learn more about and improve my people skills.