Spring 2026 Internship Reflection Post

This blog post is a reflection of my spring 2026 internship answering the bolded questions.

• Share an analysis of what the organization did well to support your internship, and how the organization could improve the experience for future interns.

Throughout my internship I was offered the opportunity to work with a lot of different software and collaborate on different pieces that I wouldn’t have done otherwise. I helped with some work on Canva, worked in Google and Word to create documents and spreadsheets, and worked in My Emma to create email blasts. There was always an opportunity for me to learn something new or even have new real world experiences that I wouldn’t have done otherwise. I built a lot of different connections through this internship attending different events they were part of and that will be incredibly important for my professional future. The Norfolk Tourism Foundation is still working out how interns can best support the foundation and I think that would be my best suggestion for improvement. They have a lot of opportunities to provide, it is just trying to have different tasks for me each day I come into work. Overall, my internship created many new opportunities and really started my gateway into the professional world.

• What SMART goals were met, which weren’t?  

At the start of this semester I created three SMART goals to follow and try to fulfill by the end of my internship. The first SMART goal I created was to improve my communications skills within an office setting. After my first semester of interning in the VisitNorfolk office, I found that I was still nervous to talk to my coworkers and didn’t quite understand how to communicate with them. Following this semester, I feel much more comfortable speaking with people around the office and even speaking up during meetings when I have an idea or opinion. My second SMART goal was to successfully coordinate the Champions of Hospitality awards for National Travel and Tourism week this year. This was the main priority and focus for me during this semester of my internship and everything ended up being completed. We had a higher number of nominations than previous years for the award and were able to get ahead on the schedule of surprising the winners. My third and final SMART goal was to attend at least one Foundation Board Meeting as I was unable to in my previous semester. This semester I was able to attend not only a board meeting but also a meeting with the golf committee completing my third SMART goal. 

• What new career paths or roles have you discovered through your internship experience?

This internship working with the Norfolk Tourism Foundation introduced me to the hospitality field as a whole. I knew that hospitality and tourism was a career path I could have chosen but I never understood how much you could do with it. Overall, I learned about all the different jobs I could potentially do while staying just in Norfolk such as with the various attractions, all the food service jobs, and all the other hidden careers Norfolk has to offer. 

• How well did your coursework prepare you for your internship experience? 

I found that my coursework was able to give me the necessary instructions to start the work I did within my internship before needing their guidance. I was able to start a press release knowing the format I was provided in class before knowing VisitNorfolk had a more specific format to follow. In general it seemed that my coursework was able to provide me a stepping stone in the right direction but there was always something done a bit differently or something new for me to learn. 

• What skills or experiences from your internship do you think will be most valuable in your future career?

I believe that a lot of the software I worked with during my internship will be very beneficial in my future career especially using My Emma and knowing how to create email blasts. Also, I was able to learn how to better work in an office environment and work with my coworkers and their different schedules. During my internship, I also attended a few meetings with the foundation director and past chair which really taught me how to take notes during meetings and what questions are most valuable to follow up on. Overall, I was introduced to a variety of experiences and built up many skills that I wouldn’t have gotten without this internship.