Senior ADPR Student Talks Summer Internships in a Pandemic
As a result of attending the annual ADPR New York City networking trip in January 2020, Patrick Boyd landed a once-in-a-lifetime internship working in account management for FCB Health, a healthcare advertising company with a thriving internship program.
Typically, FCB Health’s internship program brings opportunity for the interns to work in the heart of New York City, with workshops, networking opportunities and working on various advertising campaign projects. However, the rise of COVID-19 cases caused FCB Health to make the tough decision to move the internship to remote working.
“Obviously I was a little bummed out when coronavirus changed my plans of working in New York City for the summer,” Boyd said. “But as interns, we had all of the speakers we were supposed to, we were busy every day, we were able to get mentors, we had people to check-in with and so many resources available without even physically being in the office.”
From the end of June to mid-August, Boyd collaborated with interns from around the country in the account management department. He worked with various research technologies, wrote creative briefs and even was part of a pitch to the CEO.
“It felt like I was doing an internship every day which I enjoyed because that was the goal for this summer,” Boyd said. “ADPR prepared me unbelievably well for this internship. I felt like I knew what I was doing and just had a foundation to be able to learn more.”
Boyd started as a sports management major when he first came to UT. As soon as he changed his major to advertising, future job opportunities and real-world practice were the reality of his classes.
“I love it because the faculty just works right beside you and the people you meet in classes become your family,” Boyd said. “You can take yourself as far as you want to go.”