Not many interns—let alone typical professionals—would willingly work all night. In their office. At their desk. For 26.2 hours straight.
But pair several cups of coffee with a meaningful goal and the sleepless night isn’t all that bad.
First, some context.
This past summer, I traded in relaxation plans for an opportunity to grow professionally when I accepted a copywriting internship at Think Creative Inc., a marketing and creative agency in Downtown Orlando.
Within my first week, I fell in love with Think Creative. I wasn’t making coffee runs, answering phone calls or filing papers; I wasn’t investing my time in a meaningless internship. I was creating real, meaningful content, and I was working alongside incredibly hardworking and caring people.
And as if everything wasn’t already amazing enough, the other interns and I were tasked with the great opportunity to ignite change in our community. Together, we worked to develop an entire advertising campaign for Think Creative’s annual pro-bono event: Think-a-Thon.
Think-a-What?
Think-a-Thon. It’s an event designed to give back to our community in a marathon-like fashion. Basically, our team donates 26.2 hours of our marketing and creative work to help the needs of one Central Florida nonprofit—all for free.
But, before we can do our overnight event, our community first needed to know about it and apply to be a part of it. So, it was in the summer interns’ hands to plan and execute community outreach.
Flyers, emails, logo design, social media posts, videos, website development—we did it all.
Our creative work managed to grab the attention of countless nonprofits in Central Florida, including United Against Poverty Orlando, the amazing organization we ended up working with that helps uplift people out of poverty through various food, employment and mentorship programs.
From start to finish, our intern project lasted about four months, beginning in the summer and ending in the fall. Luckily for me, my internship lasted just as long, since I accepted the opportunity to stay onboard at Think Creative for an extra semester.
So, I was there for our 26.2 hour-long event.
The Think Creative team was hard at work early Thursday morning on October 4 until Friday, October 5. We saw the sunset and the sunrise. We enjoyed late night snacks and cups of coffee. We stayed up all night developing, conceptualizing and executing creative work we believed would help United Against Poverty Orlando reach its number one goal: building a bigger community of volunteers for the organization.
And we did it all successfully, nearly bringing our clients to tears when we presented to them all of our finished creative ideas:
“We couldn’t thank you all enough. What would’ve taken us months, you all did overnight.”
What I learned as a Think Creative intern
Earlier this year when I was hustling to find an internship, I never thought my eagerness to gain more copywriting experience would lead me to where I am now. From publishing my creative work and collaborating with amazing people to seeing Think-a-Thon unfold and being a part of something bigger than myself, I’m so grateful to have interned at a place where I’ve grown both professionally and personally.
Whether it’s taking on a full course load while interning, being an active member in a club or having a part-time job, as college students, we’re always working hard to create a better future for ourselves that as people, we sometimes forget to work hard to create a better future for our community and for the world.
But, in the best instances, we get the amazing opportunity to do both. In a positive atmosphere. Alongside incredible people. For seven, unforgettable months.
Learn more about United Against Poverty Orlando here.
Learn more about Think Creative, Inc. here.
All photos provided by author.