Hui Li '21

1) What are some skills/competencies (NACE) that you developed during your internship?

Critical Thinking/Problem Solving

• Contributed to new company projects

  • Produced original materials for online Global Student Program Certification course for educators and Virtual Study Abroad program for students (both starting Fall 2020)

• Solved problem of limited supply of visuals

  • Created new topic-specific graphics from scratch for design use

Oral/Written Communications

• Face-to-face communication through Google Meet

• Frequent written and verbal communication through Gmail, Google Chat, and WhatsApp

Teamwork/Collaboration

• Weekly video discussions with marketing team

• Contributed ideas and suggestions during brainstorming sessions

Helped colleagues with graphic design and gave feedback on drafts

Digital Technology

• Projects done 100% remotely

• Increased competency with Google Drive

  • Learned to use comments to communicate directly on Google Docs and Sheets

• Learned to design flyers and graphics on Canva

Professionalism/Work Ethic

• Responded to messages in a timely manner

• Met weekly deadlines for blog and social media post drafts/final products

Adjusted schedule to fit extra tasks (i.e., marketing materials to be created far in advance of project launch)

2) How does this experience connect to your future career goals?

Future Career Goals

• become a competent creator

• write in a clear and concise manner

• improve communication and teamwork skills

• be able to meet pressing deadlines

Skills Gained from Internship

• new knowledge of strengths

  • from Gallups strength personality survey taken at beginning of internship: Learner, Intellection, Achiever, Input, and Focus

  • very accurate!

• improved writing and graphic design skills

• increased confidence with professional/formal communication

• better work ethic, time management and organization skills

• higher levels of brainstorming and problem solving

3) What advice would you give to other Holy Cross students?

Keep your options open - you never know what you might enjoy!

• I never thought I’d be working for a travel company during a time of travel restrictions! I learned that there is more behind the scenes in an industry than you might think, even during a “slow” time! I had a lot of fun writing blogs and creating graphics for EdOdyssey in the middle of a pandemic.

Never be afraid to use and expand upon your current skill sets!

• My previous experience with graphic design and content creation from my time as a yearbook editor in high school and from my semesters working for The Spire at Holy Cross really came in handy!

Use the Alumni Network!

• I found this internship through a Holy Cross alumnus who graduated in 2011. He founded EdOdyssey a few years after he graduated and was looking for a few interns to help him with creating new content this summer. It’s a small world, and you never know who might be able to help you!