A Summer with Smith Gee
Schuyler Daniel joined us for the summer of 2021 and was willing to provide insight into the value of having intern experience as a student.
” As an intern, there is something strange about knowing you are transient in your position. There is uncertainty as to how you will be integrated into an office, if the culture will be accepting, generous with their time and teaching, and if your experience will prepare you for your next stop. My summer with Smith Gee Studio was all of these things and more.
In May 2021, I graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelors’ of Architecture and would be headed to graduate school in the fall. Smith Gee invited me on in a temporary position that would both serve the firm in various areas but also offer the professional experience to me as a graduate who was not yet looking to start full-time. I was hired as a Marketing Intern who would ultimately become a floater among the various architecture teams throughout the studio. The firm had identified tasks and responsibilities that needed to be filled in the Marketing department and, at the start of the summer, I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. What I was met with on day one was a team of people excited by my presence and a series of projects that would teach me facets of architecture, business management, marketing, and representation that I never brushed shoulders within my five years of undergraduate study in architecture.
I immediately began work on various committees including Award & Competition, Website & Blog, and was regularly invited to team meetings I wasn’t even a part of, just so I could gain exposure to the inner workings of the firm and the projects happening within.
I cannot say enough about how welcoming this growing firm of fifty was to one intern. “
An internship helps one garner “valuable relationships formed within this firm and other firms within the network here (Nashville)” and is a gateway to professional settings. The young designer was exposed to a wide variety of work by being included in project meetings, helping with marketing efforts, and joining on site visits. Furthermore, this experience helps students see more of the interaction with allied fields, especially when given the opportunity of site visits to projects in progress where students can visibly see change and systems in action.
Schuyler’s summer with SGS created fond memories that included dog night at a Sounds game, sunny Happy Hours after work, chatting with her desk neighbors and visiting her desk for candy, creating drawings for awards submissions, and the final, going-away party for our great intern.
The value of an internship is understated and provides such leverage in your toolbox of knowledge and experience and helps one grow in confidence for the future, regardless of where that takes you!
