[INAUDIBLE] started.
Hello everyone, thank you for attending our panel
presentation today.
My name is Stephanie Calas.
I'm an English major in Journalism Media
and Public Discourse minor.
And my [? Leap ?] presentation for you
today is titled Galloping Toward My Futur Bridging the Divide
Between Communications in the Equine Industry.
So where did I work this summer?
I was lucky enough to get to spend
from about mid-May to mid-August at our very
own Equestrian Center, which is just
a quick walk across campus.
And what was my summer experience?
I was the marketing communications intern
at the Equestrian Center.
And before I go more into what I did this summer,
I wanted to take a little time to introduce you
to my supervisors, because I worked
so closely with these two incredible women
through the whole process.
So Paula Pierce is the Director of the Equestrian Center.
And thank you, Paula, for joining us.
Thrilled to have you.
Paula and I worked from the very start of my internship
last October, before we even started, really building this
from the ground up, so brainstorming
how we could make this possible, how we could get me
into my internship and help me make a career based off
of it, what my tasks will include, et cetera.
My typical day at the Equestrian Center
would look something like this.
I show up bright and early around 7:00, 7:30 AM,
ride the adorable horse featured in many of my photographs,
and then spend the rest of the morning
with Paula doing working student positions, so grooming,
tacking up her horses, exercising her horses,
anything she needed.
I would spend the majority of my day, of my afternoon,
with Sharyn Antico, who is our Marketing and Events Director
at the Equestrian Center.
And Sharyn really assisted me and taught me so much
about the marketing communications
world when I worked with her.
She worked with me through just about every project
that I worked on.
So in thinking back and reflecting on my internship
and what I wanted to bring to you today,
I decided that my summer was really
divided into two major elements and two major areas of focus.
And one of these was marketing.
So some examples of what I did in marketing,
I worked with the Massachusetts Horse, the local equine
publication, to create advertisements, brief pieces,
et cetera.
One of these was on our interscholastic equestrian
team.
I worked with the coach of that team
to put together an advertisement that told the community what
the team's about, what they're looking for,
and helped recruit members to the team.
And then another example of what I
did, I collaborated with Paula and our stable manager,
Jennifer Wilda, in collaborating, pulling together
pictures, taking pictures, video clips, prizes, information,
et cetera, about some of our wonderful school horses
that we were trying to find great homes for.
I compiled all this information, and then I published it
to our Facebook page.
And I was thrilled to see that this post reached
over 2,600 people.
And we found some great homes for our school horses.
And we're still searching for homes.
So that was an extremely rewarding element
of my internship.
In thinking back on this marketing part, I really,
initially, was surprised how much time I spent in marketing.
And I think it was a challenge for me,
because this isn't necessarily what I thought I'd
be spending most of my time on.
However, I learned that this unexpected surprise
and unexpected element of my internship
really gave me a chance for personal growth, because I
learned how to dive headfirst into what
it is that challenges me.
And in doing so, I gained a broader sense
of knowledge and experience in the industry I want to pursue.
The other major element of my focus
this summer was in media, communications,
and event planning.
As I mentioned previously, I did update our Facebook page
with Sharyn.
I also managed and posted it on the equestrian team Instagram
page with a post such as this one.
I absolutely loved this.
I've had previous experiences working with Facebook pages,
social media, et cetera.
And it comes very naturally to me.
And then another major part of my summer, really
my most time-consuming project, was planning and running
our summer dressage show, which I'll tell you a little bit more
about.
So the Mount Holyoke College Equestrian Center
hosted our summer dressage show on June 29th and 30th
of this past summer.
And my role in this in making this work
was, before the competition, I worked with [? Shannon ?]
to put together and produce a comprehensive prize
list to send out to all of our competitors
to recruit more competitors to come to our competition.
And I also worked with Sharyn to put together
our show program that was then distributed
to all of our competitors on the day of the competition.
My major role during the two days of competition
was as the volunteer coordinator.
And this was a task that I was initially very overwhelmed by,
and I didn't know if I could do.
Before the competition, I reached out to local community
members to recruit a group of really excited, enthusiastic
volunteers who would really help our show run.
On the days of competition, I showed up bright and early,
really before most people came, and set up a volunteer table.
And it was my job to make sure our volunteers were there,
that they knew what they had to do,
that they had their neon green volunteer T-shirts,
and that they were on their way to having
a really successful day.
And like I said, this first, to me,
seemed like something I couldn't handle
and something that would be too big for an intern like myself.
But in working with my supervisors
and working with all of the support system I had,
it really went off without a hitch.
And it was the ultimate test of communications, I would say.
And I learned that I absolutely love this.
And while maybe at a competition,
I would usually be riding a horse,
I learned how to work from the ground up.
So what?
In my summer experience, the marketing
focus for me showed to me the skills
I needed to take from diving into something that
challenges you and pushes you.
And while initially, it may be a little frustrating
and you might wonder, why am I spending so much time on this?
The ability to just dive in and overcome these challenges
will lead to so much personal growth.
For me, I learned that marketing maybe isn't for me.
But if I hadn't gone right into it
and put myself wholeheartedly into it,
I wouldn't have learned that maybe that's not
what I wanted to do.
Also, I believe that it's so important, if you have
two major passions, as mine are horses and communications, not
to limit yourself when you're searching
for an internship, when you're trying to make it work,
because it is totally possible and the rewards are numerous.
Being able to combine my two passion at the Equestrian
Center taught me so much about myself.
It taught me about what I wanted to do,
and it helped me create a career path moving forward.
And that is so, so-- it's an invaluable experience.
So don't limit yourself.
All my photographs are included with permission
from the following individuals.
Thank you very much.