Meet the Intern: Marissa Smith

Hello, my name is Marissa and I am excited to be Indiana INTERNnet’s intern for the summer of 2018. I have just wrapped up my junior year at IUPUI, where I study journalism, public relations and advertising.

Prior to relocating to Indianapolis for college, I attended high school near my hometown of Losantville, Ind. Though Indy is a relatively small city, it is huge compared to Losantville, which has a population of less than 300 people! I definitely prefer city living and plan to move somewhere even larger later on in my career.

My previous positions have all been communications or event management related, taking place at locally-based organizations such as the Indiana State Museum, Girls Inc. of Greater Indianapolis, and Indiana Futsal. In addition to my new position here, I am also currently interning with HWC Engineering as part of the firm’s pilot program creating public relations plans for mayoral candidates from around the state.

I am particularly happy to work for Indiana INTERNnet because I myself have been a dedicated user of the site throughout my college career. By the end of this summer, I will have completed five internships, all of which I originally found via the INTERNnet site! I was also honored to be nominated for the organization’s IMPACT Awards this last year, so I already had a personal connection to this organization prior to taking on this role.

Aside from my pursuit of internships, I worked as a journalist and content strategist for IUPUI’s Division of Undergraduate Education last year. I currently serve in two leadership roles at my university. I am the lead scholar of Social Justice Education, meaning that I use my marketing and PR skills to promote the department’s programs. Those programs and events seek to educate and engage my fellow students on a variety of social issues. Also, I will be the vice president of IUPUI’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America for the duration of the upcoming academic year.

As you can probably tell, I am not used to having much free time! When I do take time off, I like to spend it watching TV or reading. If I’m not at home, you can probably find me out shopping or grabbing coffee somewhere around the city with my significant other.

I am really looking forward to assisting with the Indiana INTERNnet blogs, social media and engagement events this summer. Keep an eye out for my work from now through August!