This was by far one of the most challenging but rewarding years of my life. College doesn’t get any easier but it sure is a lot of fun with good friends, fun work, and not witnessing a loss of either Michigan Football or Basketball at home! 2012 was a great year and I hope that I can either learn from or build off of everything that happened this year to me.
When it comes to school, I still consider myself more than blessed to go to a school like Michigan. 2012 in Ann Arbor has just made me love my school that much more (yes, it is possible!). Just a few days ago I was back at my high school talking to the students about how the business program at my high school had shaped me into who I am today (and I really do owe so much to them). But a girl came up to me after I had finished speaking and asked me simply,
What made you choose Michigan?
And I was taken-aback by it. Because as someone who’s from the State of Michigan, I can’t say I get asked the question often, unlike my Californian or New York friends. So I’m not used to answering the question. I just remember that I applied to four schools, but it came down to Michigan and Georgetown for me. Two polar opposite schools when it came to size, culture, and location. My whole thing in high school was that I wanted to get away from Michigan. Georgetown had a pretty campus, I really loved DC and I had family close by that area. Being in suburban Michigan for so long was really taking a toll on me and I was getting so bored. So in that sense, Georgetown was perfect for me.
But once I actually thought about it, Michigan really had everything I needed. I needed to be at a big school. I went to a relatively large high school and I was used to that atmosphere and liked the challenge of knowing as many people as I could. I liked always getting to meet new people and never being forced to be around the same people day-in and day-out. Michigan was clearly large enough for that.
Education was a big part of it as well. With a preferred admittance to the Ross School of Business, it would be hard to decline. Business and marketing were things I had wanted since my sophomore year of high school. Knowing exactly what I wanted to do since I was 15 and showing my passion for it had gotten me in and I couldn’t just forget that. The education I’d get at Ross would be first-class and I knew my tuition would be worth it.
The next one was spirit and culture. Not that Georgetown didn’t have it but Michigan soared off the charts when it came to spirit. School spirit had always been my thing and that was a big deal for me to have at whatever school I went to. The traditions of Michigan were so defined that I really could appreciate it and liked that aspect as well. Not to mention as a sports fan, Michigan was by far one of the best schools to go.
And I finally decided that maybe being in the State of Michigan wouldn’t be so bad. I was far enough away in Ann Arbor to be myself, away from my family..but at the same time, if I really had the urge to go home on a weekend or two, it would be easily doable. And although I didn’t appreciate that as much at the time, I really do now!
So in the end…I chose Michigan. It was clearly the best decision I ever made.
And here I am, two and a half years after my first day of college, typing to you my experiences for 2012. Michigan’s done me well this year and has continued to surprise me, even when I think I’ve figured it all out. I am still amazed to see that the friendships I’ve built from freshmen year just continue to get stronger and stronger every day, and I know for a fact that even after I graduate, I’ll be able to call these people my very best friends and keep in touch with them. And even classes have surprised me. Kind of anyway. I knew I was going to hate Finance right off the bat and love Marketing. Go figure on that one. But as much as I hated Finance, I was surprised to find out how much I actually learned from it. It still isn’t interesting in the slightest bit to me but I did learn from it and didn’t do nearly as bad as I thought I would. But speaking of classes, I’ve also realized how spoiled we are with good professors, especially at Ross. I appreciate the hard work and passion they have just to teach us and enlighten us. I don’t know how they have the patience to do it but I’m sure glad they do. So this is a big shout-out to the professors I’ve had this year, especially the ones I’ve bonded with. From all your students (not just me!), thank you.
I feel as though, for some reason, this year was the year that I broadened my network farther than I ever had. I’ve never been a fan of the business school mindset of “networking” because I believe in building real relationships. And I’m proud to say that I have done that with the people I’ve met in 2012.
2012 was also the year of work. This summer at Under Armour was definitely one to remember. Baltimore was an amazing time even though I felt like I was on the move so much that I didn’t get to appreciate the city as much as I wish I could have. Working at UA was a huge challenge but I thrive under pressure. Meeting all of the people from Under Armour, hanging out with all the interns, being at the company, going to the All-Star Game, working through both frustrations and huge successes taught me so much more than I thought I would learn. The experience was invaluable and I consider myself so incredibly fortunate to have had it. Thank you, Under Armour and everyone who was a part of this memorable summer!
There have been many successes in 2012 accompanied by just as many failures. But my ability to learn from my mistakes has improved greatly and this year truly exposed me to the saying of, “Everything happens for a reason.” Everything negative this year turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Taking a risk in February ended with me getting an internship at an unbelievable company. Not getting a position for something this fall turned out to be the greatest gift as I wouldn’t have been able to put the time I had wanted into it because of how busy I was with everything else. I’ve learned to take life as it comes and work for everything I want.
So, what do I wish for for 2013? Well, on a snobby Wolverine level (just let me be, okay!) I wish for a continued successful season from Michigan Basketball and to shock everyone with a National Championship. Laugh all you want, but I think this squad has the best chance we’ve had in a VERY long time. I also hope that Michigan Football’s Team 134 will have us all smelling roses and it would be a great belated 21st birthday gift if Michigan would beat Ohio State in front of my own eyes as it will be my last ever game at Michigan Stadium as a University of Michigan student.
I also, on a more serious level, wish success to all my friends in their ventures. Whether it be getting that perfect internship, starting that business they’ve been looking to begin or to accomplish that dream of traveling, I want it to come true for them. I wish for my family to stay healthy and happy, and hope they have a great time traveling…even if it is without me.
But for me? I just hope to keep doing what I’m doing. To keep seizing opportunities and to keep working hard as I know first-hand that hard work does pay off. I hope to spend the rest of my junior year and the beginning of my senior year making good memories as I know they will be some of my fondest. I have a feeling 2013 will be a good one.
With that…
Cheers to 2012, and Happy New Year!
Last day. Tough day. Emotional day. But good day.
Get to Baltimore next year if you’re a college student. You’ll learn more than you ever thought you could at UA.
It was a very strange feeling when August came around. Throughout this entire process, it has been “Oh, August 10th is our last day. That’s so far away from now!” But right now, as I type this, it is August 9th, 2012. And by this time tomorrow, my internship will be over.
It’s a bittersweet thought because I’m so excited to go home. I’m excited to see my friends and family, get back to the Big House in Ann Arbor and getting to sleep past 10am more than once a month. But honestly, this experience has been absolutely incredible. I’ve gotten to learn so much in social media and the metrics behind it. I’ve been privileged enough to travel, representing a brand at so many events and in many different cities.
These last two weeks kind of brought it all together.
Week 10:
For one…it is super cool when you go to a school like Michigan which has the largest living alumni in the world. Naturally, the Michigan alum and the Michigan interns went to lunch together. So props Adam and Nicole for graduating from the best school ever (no bias…ha) that Graham and I are more than happy to represent in the intern class at Under Armour. Second, I FINALLY, after 10 weeks in Baltimore got to go to the aquarium. Every person I know told me I had to go to the aquarium while I was in Baltimore. And despite not having any penguins and sea otters (my favorites), it was still very cool. Sharks, dolphins, poison dart frogs and everything in between.
Week 11:
And after a great week in Baltimore, on Tuesday, we went to Sagamore Farms, a horse breeding farm owned by non-other than CEO of Under Armour, Kevin Plank. And I’m not that big of a country girl, but it was absolutely beautiful. The Sagamore party marked the “end of the Summer” get-together and it was the last time the entire Summer League got to be together as one. We got to have dinner together and play some games. And to top it off, Kevin Plank showed up himself to talk to us and had genuine interest in what we did this summer. He also gave us a final talk, if you will, answering a few of our questions about the company as well as telling some of his old stories. And hearing those stories inspired us all. I wouldn’t do his story justice so I won’t tell it here—all the more motivation for you college kids reading this to intern at Under Armour next year. But moral is: don’t give up and chase your dreams. Don’t ever be denied. And that’s something I know I’ll take away from this.
It’s cool being at a company where everyone is so willing to help and so willing to tell you what they do and willing to have lunch with you…the list goes on and on. It’s cool being at a company where the CEO is visible, and you know the values he holds are true. It’s cool being at a company where what you do actually makes an impact—a visible impact—on the brand. And it’s cool being at a company that has as amazing as a culture as Under Armour.
Over the last few days, people have been asking me what the best part was about Under Armour while I was here. And the answer is simply, the people. The relationships I’ve made with the teammates at Under Armour is really something I’m not about to take for granted.
I don’t need to list all your names because I think you already know who you are but thank you to everyone at Under Armour who’s made an impact on me during my time here. And a special thanks to Colin, Dan, Jimmy, Kevin, and Cara—you guys made this experience that much more amazing.
Nostalgia just hit me as I wrote this and I assure you I’m one of the most nostalgic people ever. It’s been a summer full of fun as well as frustration but I feel like I’ve grown and learned so much in just 3 months. I know that because of this experience, I can contribute more in whatever situation I am in. It’s a high-paced (faster than you can ever imagine), intense, fun, competitive place…and I loved it.
To those who are looking to become a Summer Leaguer next year: work hard and just keep pushing to get here. Because it is so so worth it when you do.
Time to enjoy my last day at Under Armour. And here we go.
It’s been a crazy few weeks and so I apologize for not posting anything sooner. From the Summer League Sample Sale to Tottenham Hotspur, it seems these last few weeks have just flown by. Actually this whole summer has flown by. I mean…it’s August. Where did July go!? I guess writing this post will remind me exactly what we did in July. So here we go.
Week 8:
After coming home from the All-Star Game, we were put into one of the biggest projects of the summer: the Summer League Sample Sale. All of the interns pitched in and did our best to put on an incredible Sale. And it didn’t happen without a few mishaps including an insane storm that called for all the interns to work together. I think that was one of the moments I was most proud of in the entire internship—we saw the entire Summer League come together in a time of need and really put everything else aside to overcome an obstacle. Shout-out to Armando and Mark for being the leaders on this, helping us get through each of the days and motivating us when we needed it.
Week 9:
Week 9 was all about Tottenham. Tottenham all day every day. Live and breathe Tottenham. We got a cool opportunity to not only promote the Under Armour and Tottenham Hotspur partnership on social media through showing the kits, but I also got to go to the Spurs Baltimore and New York games. Soccer—excuse me—football is a whole new universe for me. Never really been a huge fan but lo and behold that at the New York game, I’m screaming at the top of my lungs for Tottenham Hotspur. After getting to meet Spurs fans at their supporter rallies, their passion fed off to me. And besides, after I work on something, I get pretty emotionally attached to it. And that wasn’t any different with Tottenham. Awesome experience and I got educated on soccer—nothing better!
In New York, I was fortunate to be able to spend a good few hours just wandering around one of my favorite cities in the world. Times Square, Central Park, Flatiron building, 5th Avenue…I tried to do it all! And Lani and I also got to go to the EA Sports/Tottenham media event where the picture was taken below. Basically, the team got to play FIFA and they played against each other bracket-style.
And of course, the game! The New York game featured Tottenham Hotspur against the New York Red Bulls. We captured some great content of fans who stopped by Armour One (the truck below) and Spurs fans showed up in great numbers because they took over Red Bull Arena. It was a great experience and the Spurs won, topping off an epic Week 9.
As always, follow @UAInternTeam for all updates on what we’re up to as well as what new things are coming to Under Armour! Use hashtag #InsideUA for behind the scene looks of what it’s like to work for Under Armour!
Opportunities are really endless at Under Armour. This was an even crazier week than it usually is at UA! A launch, some traveling and overall learning as much as I possibly can..I’d say overall it has been a more than successful week. Here are just some of the highlights of yet another incredible week here.
June 20
So June 20 was the launch of SPINE, an incredible new footwear technology that you all should read up about. This is big for UA and being a part of this company on this day was an incredible feeling. But the day started off with our Founder and CEO Kevin Plank as well as other UA Execs coming to talk to the Summer League, giving us some motivation, some words of wisdom and though there’s never need for reminder, explaining to us how great it is to be a part of Under Armour. Mind you, this was literally 5 hours before he presented SPINE in New York City so we thank him and the execs so much for taking the time out of their (especially) busy day.
The rest of our day was dedicated to free ice cream for Under Armour employees to celebrate the first day of summer. And boy did we take advantage of that opportunity since it was flirting with 100 degrees outside. We waited until the launch of SPINE before doing a blitz of social media and the reaction to it was phenomenal. I personally can’t wait to see how people take to SPINE—so far so good!
June 21-22
Probably the most incredible experience by far at my (short) time at Under Armour was in these two days. Dayana and I traveled to Florida to visit the IMG Academies with a few more of Team Under Armour. Absolutely INCREDIBLE. The IMG Academies is an institution that specializes in different sports and sport performance, the most famous being the IMG Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. And as a tennis fan, I was dying of happiness when we first found out we were going down there. We met with a lot of incredible people at the Academies who explained what they did and took us on a tour. The place is seriously like a theme park …but for sports. Check what they’re doing by following them on twitter at @IMGAcademies; I was definitely amazed and impressed with everything there.
But getting to meet Nick Bollettieri, the legend himself was more than incredible for me. Everyone who knows tennis knows how Nick Bollettieri is. He’s the man who taught Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova, Jim Courier, Serena and Venus Williams, and Tommy Haas at the Academy, and had a great relationship with the amazing Arthur Ashe, who the stadium in New York is named after. He honestly was so funny, charming but most of all, very knowledgable and gave us more than enough advice. He brought so many ideas to the table, and being a part of a company that’s always looking for the next thing, I really appreciated it. Seriously, it was one of the highlights of my year getting to meet Mr. Bollettieri himself. We also got a tour of his office which is really like a showroom instead of who he’s met, where he’s been…it honestly is incredible and just shows how amazingly accomplished he is. And not to mention, the guy loves Under Armour and the people at Under Armour.
So in just a few days, I got to hear from the CEO of the coolest company on the planet (if I do say so myself…), met one of my idols, gained a ton of social media ideas from meetings, and was a part of the company during a huge launch. I know it’s a little cliche to say but I need to write this again—the opportunities are ENDLESS at Under Armour. If you’re a college kid with at least one more semester left at school, keep your eye out on http://underarmour.jobs because I’ve already gained so much of this internship…and it’s only week 4.
Big thanks to the IMG Academies team, especially Jesse and Lori who were incredible hosts to us. And also huge thanks to Sean who was gracious enough to extend the invitation to join him on the trip down to IMG.
As always, follow @UAInternTeam for all updates on what we’re up to as well as what new things are coming to Under Armour! Use hashtag #InsideUA for behind the scene looks of what it’s like to work for Under Armour!
What a week it has been! Already the end of week 3!? Insane.
Once again, everything is always cool at Under Armour but this week was even more special. This week, Baltimore pretty much was one big celebration…a Sailabration! Ships from around the world came to the harbor for the bicentennial celebration of the War of 1812 and the Star Spangled Banner anniversary. And Under Armour got to be a part of it!
This week was a lot about Baltimore and being here for the first weekend since I started this internship was a great feeling. So I present to you, the highlights of week 3 at Under Armour:
June 14
If I had to choose the coolest thing I’ve gotten to do so far this internship, June 14th would encompass it. As I said, Baltimore was hosting many ships from around the world. And lucky for me, Under Armour just so happens to have an enormous dock that usually is just used as viewing the harbor, but this week, is now home to the Kojima, the Japanese Coast Guard. We got to welcome the ship in that morning with signs, banners and a lot of cheer—definitely a great way to start the day.
But that was definitely far from the end of an incredible Thursday. The Ultimate Interns got a big treat—we got to help represent Under Armour as VIPS at Ryan Zimmerman’s charity event, “A Night at the Park” for the ziMS foundation. The event was at Nationals Park in Washington DC so we literally changed at work from our polos and jeans to dressier clothes to head out to the ballpark. The ziMS foundation works to fight and find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Throughout the night, there was a dinner, silent auctions, a live auction, the band Guster performed but the best part was Washington Nationals’ player Ryan Zimmerman coming onto the stage to tell us how much this organization meant to him, especially as his mother has MS. It was touching and we were more than proud that one of our Under Armour athletes was something we always stand by: Humble and Hungry.
June 15
Friday turned out to be a fun day too. Around 3:00pm, the Ultimate Intern Team made their way to M&T Bank Stadium for the Ravens 7-on-7 Tournament presented by Under Armour. But not without an outstanding performance of “Call Me Maybe” by one of the Recruits, Eddie. Anyway, getting there, we helped keep the 8 teams coming into the stadium together as they got to go through the latest and greatest from Under Armour. They got jerseys specially made for the tournament as well as got to try on gloves, as well as footwear where iPads were set up so that people could purchase them right then and there. Then the football started as we interns got to watch it all from the field. More interns showed up after 5pm and it was fun getting to just chill and watch some talented high schoolers play some 7 on 7. Not to mention, under the lights at M&T Bank is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Huge props to interns Andi and Eddie, and their manager Ryan for making the event flawless.
June 16-17:
This weekend proved to be a great one. As Sailabration was in town, we got a really unique experience in Baltimore. The Navy Blue Angels were in town and put on a spectacular air show both Saturday and Sunday. And believe me, they’re worth all the hype. They did some crazy stuff and the planes came within inches of each other in almost every stunt. And their precision is just unbelievable. After the Blue Angels show on Saturday, a bunch of the Summer League went down to Inner Harbor to view the beautiful boats in town. We strolled around for hours, ate in between and even got some shopping done (I officially own Orioles souvenirs!). I got sunburnt as did Ann (ouch!) but aside from that, it was an incredible day and really made me love Baltimore. We got spoiled by a great summer to be in Charm City, that’s for sure!
As always, follow @UAInternTeam for all updates on what we’re up to as well as what new things are coming to Under Armour! Use hashtag #InsideUA for behind the scene looks of what it’s like to work for Under Armour! Feel free to tweet at myself at @hashtagmaggie as well!
Time moves so much faster when you’re working for Under Armour. But at the same time, it feels like I’ve been working here forever (in a good way!). There’s never lack of work to do, there’s always something going on and I’ve found that I’m never lacking new ideas.
This week, we celebrated a birthday (Happy belated, Jimmy!), had some fun with the other Rookies…and former ones too, and traveled to Atlanta for the Under Armour Basketball Grind Sessions. Here are some highlights on specific things.
June 6:
One of the coolest parts of working at Under Armour is that there’s always an opportunity to meet new people. No one is very shy at UA, and everyone is really excited to meet you—even if you are just an intern! We had an event on the Promenade where the current interns got to meet the former “Rookies” that are now employees at Under Armour. Networking, playing a few games, eating and just relaxing, it was an awesome time and I think I can speak on behalf of all the other interns that it was definitely a fun event.
June 8-9:
The Ultimate Intern Team got our first traveling assignment of the summer—Atlanta! Under Armour Basketball had one of their Grind Sessions events where the top 50 or so high school basketball players are invited to go to a one day event where they not only improve on their basketball game, but also the basics, unique techniques, speed and footwork. The kids got instructed by Jay Fernandez (@prohoops) and Hanif Hill (pictured with us below), both very respected trainers in the basketball world and let me tell you, this wasn’t just some easy summer camp. They were pushed to do new things and learned a lot. Feedback from it was great as we talked to a few of the kids and they told us how much fun they had had at our Grind Sessions. The Intern Team got to film it and we had a live-tweeting event going on. It was honestly a lot of fun being there, and BIG PROPS to the UA Basketball team and one of the interns Shaun Scott (who did work and was nice enough to drive us around in his home city :) ) for pulling such an awesome event off. Can’t wait for the next #GrindSessions in NYC on August 3rd!
So those are just the highlights of the week! Definitely “tune in” next week because I know for a fact that we have an even busier week coming up!
As always, follow @UAInternTeam for all updates on what we’re up to as well as what new things are coming to Under Armour! Use hashtag #InsideUA for behind the scene looks of what it’s like to work for Under Armour!
Other things you should definitely follow: @UnderArmour (they’re ALMOST at 100,000 followers and with your help they’d be even closer!!!) and @UABasketball!
What a whirlwind of a week! For all those who know me, you know that I go to sleep very late…and I mean VERY late to the point of past 2am. I am proud to say that I was so wiped out this week that I was in bed by midnight every night, with only one night with a struggle to sleep. Anyway, I’ve gotten to meet so many of the other interns, especially those who are staying in the apartment complex with me. We have a movie theater and a game room that we use excessively. It’s been fun exploring and a crew of us went out to Inner Harbor on Memorial Day to explore.
It’s been an awesome experience thus far and I thought I would share some stuff about what the week was like.
May 29, 30 & 31:
First three days were all informational but only Under Armour can make 8 hours of solid and important information actually interesting to listen to. It was so fun to meet the other interns, especially those who commute or don’t live in our apartments. Everyone is really nice. After the first day of info was done, Colin Clark took the five Ultimate Interns (Kaito Choy, Dayana Sarkisova, Amelia Green-Vamos, Lani Finer and myself) on a tour of Under Armour and we got to see our cubicles. We got to meet the Digital Marketing team and learn a little bit more about what we’re doing. Honestly, within the hour we were with Colin, it was overwhelming (in a good way) hearing about the experience we were in for!
June 1:
Headed out to the Baltimore Ravens 7-on-7 Tournament presented by Under Armour to not only help out with the event, but also to get some social media coverage going on. It was a great event to be at, although next time, I’ll have to remind myself to bring a lot of sunscreen…and I mean a LOT.
There is so much more to come and this is only week one. It’ll be crazy and fun and a ride but I’m up for the challenge!
Ps, speaking of social media coverage, if you always want to know what’s going on with the team, you have to follow us at @UAInternTeam! It’s the best possible way to not only follow our journey, but also to find out the latest and greatest from Under Armour! So follow away!
It’s crazy.
I’ve been waiting for tomorrow for almost four months. When I started the Under Armour Ultimate Intern competition, I honestly kept thinking how amazing it would be to spend a summer in Baltimore. And tomorrow, I get to do just that. It’s fun to think about how much work went into this too. Running around Disney like a crazy person taking pictures with random strangers and Disney workers, and writing stuff every day to post—it was a trip. But hard work pays off and that was a great example that it does.
I know I’ve done it five thousand times and it must sound repetitive by now… but seriously to every single person who helped me out during the process: thank you. Whether you SuperCam’d it for me at school or Orlando, or even just asked how the competition was going, it really meant a lot and again, thank you. And the excitement you all showed for me is more than I could ever ask for! I think some of you were even MORE excited than I was which I didn’t think was possible to do! Haha, but really, it’s been an incredible feeling to have all of you come together to help me out and I’ll rep us all well in Charm City.
Not sure what I’m really expecting. I told myself that I’d write down expectations to go though honestly, all I feel is excitement. I think and hope it’ll be as great of a time as I suspect it’ll be. I want to learn as much as I can not only on a technical level of learning more about digital marketing, retail and branding, but also I hope to gain more of/improve on the ‘intangibles’ as I like to call them (i.e. leadership skills, drive, etc). Can’t wait to meet all of the rad people at Under Armour, especially the other interns.
I honestly will miss Michigan while I’m gone though. Ann Arbor and home have always treated me so well and I’m leaving so many of you behind. September seems so far away from now and that kind of makes me sad to think that for many of you, that’ll be the next time I see you! But no worries—welcome week, football season, and suffering through classes together will all make up for it! And bring your summer stories along. I love hearing them!
Sidenote: Not bringing any Michigan gear by…yeah, them… is so strange. SO STRANGE. But no worries Ann Arbor, I’ll rep you still.
Okay back on track.
To my friends who are off doing their thing this summer: BEST OF LUCK!! Do work wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. I hope you have a blast and as always, TAKE PICTURES and keep me updated via social media. Or a phone call. That’s nice too :)
Alrighty, I’m off. Today Michigan, Tomorrow Maryland. And I can’t freaking wait!
ps.
Flashback:
