Business cards really do come in handy.

On Monday this week, I went to visit the lady I will be interning for Sherill Gall. Waking up more than 2 hours early, making sure I had the best possible outfit (probably the most professional dress I have ever worn) I was more excited and nervous then I possibly have ever been. Lucky, it was only about a 10 minute drive, with barley any traffic at all. I drove up to the building, in big letters it said " Channel 9 ABC" I snapped a picture of it, uploaded it to my Facebook/twitter excited that I was finally there!

I took a deep breath and got out of my car, went inside to the front desk to check in. It took about 10 minutes for the secretary to even get me checked in and finally call Sherill down to come and get me. She took my picture and my license, and I got a visitor badge ID (cant wait for the real one). Waiting impatiently in the lobby, Sherill finally came down to get me! I gave her a firm handshake and introduced myself, she was very kind and seemed very excited that I would be interning for her. We went up to her office and pulled up my internship papers that the school sent her for me, then asked me to tell her a little about me. I normally really hate this question, I mean how do I sum up my life and show how enthusiastic and passionate I am about this career path in about a paragraph? I took a deep breath and just let my personality shine through. I feel as though I nailed it, I was very likable, and made sure to mention all my past accomplishments and why I wanted to intern there. (It helped that I did research on the company before hand)

She started, to explain to me all what the job would entail. She let me know that this is my internship and I will get what I put into it. I will mostly be working with the sales/marketing department, attending meetings with clients, selling media to different outlets, doing marketing plans and other certain events. Sherill does want me to explore all areas though, making sure I intern with account executives and the production crew, she let me know that she does this because she wants her interns to get the most out of the internship as we can also, she has actually hired her last 4 interns to work for her. Talk about awesome. Seeing the studio and everything that I would be doing made me wish that it was January 10th already! I am really excited and need to go out and buy some more professional clothing! I will be attending real business meetings, I need to also look the part!

Needless to say, it was an awesome experience for my first day there. I am really excited to work with Sherill and learn about working for a company like abc.

On to some more good news......Last night, I went to a local show at the plaza in downtown Orlando. My good friends that I have been friends with since I moved here, had their first shows last night. I was stoked enough that I would be seeing my extremely good friends play, I had no clue what would be coming next. I was waiting in line for a drink, and started talking to a guy about the show, then we got on to the topic of what I do and go to school for. To my surprise he ended up being the V.P. and A&R representative of Atlantic Records. He was really awesome and I enjoyed our conversation, thankfully I had my newly made business cards on hand. I will continue from now on to NEVER leave the house with out them. I mean hey! You never know who your going to meet. Good first impressions with everyone is a must, these people could just be the tool you need to truly live out your passion.

I am happy things are falling into place, I am excited to see where the next couple months take me.

Until then...

Sarah McNeal