From Rejection to Real Growth: My Internship Experience
Lessons from the WRC
Hello! My name is Zoe Zaballero. I’m a senior Advertising major in the Art Direction concentration with a minor in Art. This past semester, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to work with the Temple University Wellness Resource Center (WRC) as their Graphic Designer. Approaching this position, I wasn’t too sure of what to expect. Though I have experience working with other organizations creating social media posts, designing web pages, and occasionally print designs, none could compare with the feeling of reality hitting me—that this experience would be one I needed to make the most of.
Coming out of my junior year at Temple, I was met with consistent rejections from companies that I applied to for internships. Over the summer, it was hard waking up to go to my retail job instead of walking into a building full of other creatives and heading to a meeting where we discussed our next points of action on a new project. During this time, I felt the most incompetent and often blamed myself for whatever I thought prevented me from getting an internship.
When I saw the job posting for a Graphic Designer at the Wellness Resource Center, I knew that I wanted this opportunity, as it combined both my passion for design with my value and awareness of wellbeing. Getting an email back from my now-supervisor telling me that I got the job was like a light at the end of the tunnel coming into view. I was both excited and nervous to start. I wasn’t sure what to prepare for on my first day, but after meeting my supervisors for the first time, I was reassured by how friendly and knowledgeable the whole staff was. I could tell upon my first few conversations with them that they all cared deeply about their health topic of focus within the department. To this day, their passion for their work inspires me every day when coming up with design ideas for their projects and events.
There was a lot of growth that I experienced with the WRC this past semester. One area of growth that the was most drastic to me was learning how to translate my design style so that it aligns with the branding of both the WRC and Temple University. In my past experiences working with other organizations, I was given design freedom and the ability to go outside of brand styling or even create my own branding. There was never really a time when I had to stick to specific fonts or colors that I had not chosen. I found this experience at the beginning of my internship to be very uncomfortable and limiting, but through detailed and thoughtful feedback from my supervisors, I slowly but surely came to familiarize myself with both the Temple and WRC brand kits, and how to integrate my own design style. This aided me in creating graphics that were engaging but also appropriate for the WRC to use.
I realized that there are going to be times when I cannot design the way I immediately want to. Brand kits exist not to limit design but to offer a sense of direction. I’m grateful for my supervisors, who were always quick to offer ideas and challenge me in ways that inspired growth. Through them, I learned not to remain so dependent on my own ideas and methods but to also look at the ideas and methods that other people have used and build off those as well. Design is an iterative process that involves many people weighing in and providing feedback. For those looking for an internship relating to design, I would urge you not to view critique as an insult but rather as a challenge to further improve your design. Even those with no design background may have helpful thoughts to contribute.
As I finish up my first semester as the Graphic Designer for the Wellness Resource Center, I look forward to taking all that I’ve learned—and my new approach to design—with me next semester as I continue my internship and, eventually, in an agency environment post-graduation.
