My first 8 days...

Day 8. I made it.

Even though I’m still struggling to wake up at 6 a.m., have to stop and buy a huge coffee to make it through the day and though half the time I feel totally lost, I’ve made it. A whole week and a half.

But wait… When did I enter the real world? I haven’t even graduated yet!

In the past two weeks, the graphic design business I intern for has doubled the size of its staff. And by that I mean it went from two to four. Access Design and Print is located on the beautiful coast of North Carolina in Kitty Hawk, just a 10-minute drive from my childhood home (in Nags Head). I feel fortunate to have been selected as an intern with Access Design for many reasons. It’s close to home, meaning I can live with my parents and save money for the coming year. It’s a small firm, and the owner, Adam Baldwin, is highly accessible and easy to talk to. It’s local which means the clients I’m working for also have ties to the area and are great resources for networking in the future. And, come on, it’s at the beach!

Right off the bat, I knew Access Design would be more beneficial than other internships I’ve had throughout college. At the office, I have my own, brand new, 27-inch MacBook (sorry, had to brag) with all the fonts and programs necessary for graphic designers. The first day, the owners already had a list of projects ready for me to start on and I’ve been working nonstop since then. At other internships I’ve felt futile and have spent most of my time sitting around because there just wasn’t much work. Access Design is overwhelmed with work, so I feel necessary and useful.

The best contrast I can offer between life in the J-school and life in the real world is this: in graphic design classes in the J-school, teachers give students three or four projects that span the entire semester. With the exception of my magazine design class, most of these projects are never even printed, simply reviewed and graded by the teacher from their desktop computer. And most of the time, the projects are abstract and have no ties to the world outside Carolina.

As a graphic design intern, I’ve already had several projects go to print, including a couple menus, a cottage sign for a vacation home, a banner advertising positions at a new restaurant and several rack cards promoting local businesses or events. Seeing my hard work in print form is extremely rewarding, as are the conversations I have with clients who rely on me to oversee their project’s design and make necessary corrections as they arise. These interactions are the encouragement I need to realize that graphic design is a process, it’s not hit or miss, it’s not perfect the first time and it’s something that I can succeed at in the real world.

Best part of my internship so far? I have my own business card now! So while mornings will always be rough and the days will always be long, I think I can get the hang of this real world thing.