By Parker Mitchell
The tennis-playing sports addict.
parkermitchell2331@gmail.com

As this internship comes to a close, I would like to thank everyone involved with Neuse News. Throughout this summer, our team was more like a family to me and I’m so grateful to call them all my friends.

Not only did I have so much fun with you guys this summer, you all taught me so much and I can’t thank you all enough for that. 

Coming into the internship, I had no idea what to expect because prior to the internship we were given the outlines of what was going by to happen this summer but nothing more.

With that being said my first task was to sell T-shirts at the BBQ Fest and it really caught me off guard because I thought to myself “what could I learn from selling T-shirts?”

Well, the BBQ fest ended and I went back to the office to meet B.J. to tell him how it went. When we sat down to talk he explained how it correlates to business and the importance of using the right tools. That was an example of what I was taught all summer; learning about the different aspects of business that I always overlooked. 

Along with learning about the different aspects of business, B.J. always pointed out the importance of relationships in a business and how you always need to maintain heathy relationships with not only other businesses but your consumers as well.

I’m lucky enough to know a few business owners that helped me out when I was stressing out about finding sponsors for ICYMI and the Live Results Show; it helped me out just as much as it helped y’all.

It was always a great feeling to walk into the office with a nice check in my hand to show off to B.J. 

This summer, I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses in the business world. I was out of my comfort zone when B.J. wanted me to go get sponsors for ICYMI, like the idea of asking a business for money frightened me.

Now it’s a breeze — I feel so much more comfortable and I feel like I can be trusted with the task of going out and finding sponsors for Neuse News.

A weakness I learned is scripted reading in front of a camera; no matter how well I know a single sentence, as soon as you press record everything I could mess up on, I messed up and it is annoying but it’s just a personal goal I need to work on. 

I’ve said it so many times throughout the summer, you never know what you’re going to run into walking into that office. It can be anything from working on ICYMI to building a table, regardless of what I did I had fun.

You can be in the worst mood possible but having everyone’s positive energy in the room you can’t help but smile and embrace it all.

I’m so grateful for all the relationships I’ve built and opportunities Neuse News has given me over this summer. I hope to remain tight with all of my fellow interns and I appreciate you guys dealing with me and my wacky personality.

I love you all so much; thank you.