Where do I go from here?

My name is Aaron Napoles and I’m in my final semester at Temple University. I’m graduating in the fall and one of my last classes / things to do in my college career here at Temple University is to complete an internship.

I have been interning at Omm Media as a marketing and PR intern for the last couple months, and I can confidently say that I have learned great deal about the industry and how media / marketing will play a role in my life in the future. Throughout this internship, I have gotten to see what day to day life is like while working this kind of job. While taking classes at Temple University, I was learning about the industry from a classroom point of view, but it’s different when you’re doing it in the “real-world”. Suddenly it becomes very real.

I am very thankful to Cindy Metzler and the Omm Media team for allowing me this experience and being able to learn under them. Learning the in’s and out’s of the industry as well as making connections with other people in the same (and different) fields. From this internship, I now know that I want to pursue a specific area within this vast field / industry. I am someone who enjoys a very active and healthy lifestyle, I’ve been this way all my life. You could say it is partially thanks to my mother since she is the same way, and I grew up in a household that was concerned with fitness and overall health. However, I chose to continue this lifestyle and maintain it, even when I lived on my own.

I say all this to get to the point that I want to continue my media and advertising career in the health and fitness industry. This is the area that I know, that I love, and that I truly feel a part of. Continuing my work for a company that is in this field feels right and feels like I can really get invested in my work. It should be noted, I enjoyed my time with Omm Media and am very grateful for the opportunities I was given. And given the choice, I would do it the same all over again. Thanks to Ms. Metzler I have gotten one step closer to figuring out what I want to do and how to do it. Without the experience gained over the last few months at Omm Media, all of this wouldn’t have been possible and I would still be unsure of how to proceed in the media / public relations industry.

Lastly, my advice to others who are about to start an internship or looking for one now is to keep an open-mind. All internships don’t look the same and yours might be very different from a friend of yours that is taking an internship at another company. Keeping an open mind to the different structures and cultures will help you to learn about how companies don’t all work the exact same. On top of this, ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask a question out of fear that it is a “dumb” one. It is better to ask it and find out the answer directly than have it come up in conversation with another professional (or anyone) in the industry and you not know or give a wrong answer.