As an upcoming senior at Osseo Senior High School, I feel truly thankful for my time with Prime Advertising and Design, Inc. Not many teenagers my age get such a great opportunity to get an in-depth scope of a leading local business. My summer at Prime as an intern was a learning one. I learned the following: the skills of mass-organization, the art of providing professional customer care, and the climate of a small business.

I spent most of my time at Prime helping to update and develop new organizational strategies for the company. From filing ad agreements, to updating price-list verbiage, to emailing clients their prospective ads, I’ve done it all. While this work may not be alluring to most, I’ve come to appreciate its value. Without such efforts to organize, a system falls behind and important information gets lost in the cracks. Only by getting organized and setting a standard to uphold can a consistent productivity be achieved—a lesson well-learned from my mentor, Penny Monse.

At the same time, I supervised the front-desk/reception-area. This allowed me to be Prime’s official welcome-woman; essentially, I was the first impression new customers received of the company. With such a responsibility, I tried to convey to each customer Prime’s dedication to growing their business and its willingness to work hard to achieve that goal. Getting to interact with clients and help promote Prime’s professional image were my highlight experiences.

Most interesting of all was Prime’s climate. That’s not to say its temperature, (because as we all know that fluctuates between a sauna and a refrigerator) but rather the emotional temperament of the group. All the employees at Prime are dedicated to fulfilling their customers’ needs. I’ve seen the long hours they pull, striving for perfection, only to do the same for another client. It’s truly inspiring, the creativity and effort they put into their work. Their passion for their jobs reflects in their positive natures. Prime is its own family and one I feel welcome to be apart of.

Luckily for me, my time at Prime has not yet reached its end. I have been offered and have taken a fall position for after-school work. I am pumped to continue working with everyone and seeing what sort of projects Prime will send my way. This was definitely a learning summer, and with what I learned, I hope to make this fall, and this coming year, an equally educational one.