Reflections

I participated in the marketing case competition in spring of ‘25. This was an extremely beneficial learning experience. I got to test my marketing skills, receive feedback, practice my public speaking skills, work under pressure, and collaborate with a team. This competition helped to push me to challenge what I knew and what I was capable of. I really liked that we could be as creative as we wanted with the competition and design a campaign to our own ideas. Since I was early on into the marketing major, I learned a lot about what was needed to conduct a successful campaign for a brand, as well as how to operate under intense pressure with time constraints. This is an experience I’ll apply to my future professional growth by using the problem-solving, teamwork, and presentation skills I developed to confidently approach real-world marketing challenges.

In the summer of ‘25, I did a 12 week, full time Sales development internship at Ecolab. This internship included a mix of virtual trainings, and in-person shadowing of sales reps. The internship concluded with a capstone project that I completed with my fellow interns. This helped develop my professionalism because it was the first true professional setting I’d worked in. It helped me learn how to conduct myself, what things I was looking for in a career, as well as what things I wasn’t looking for. It was nice to be able to shadow professionals everyday. I grew a lot in networking, and interpersonal skills. I had to force myself to put on a sales face everyday, and work hard to communicate. I plan to apply this to my future growth in terms of gaining a hard understanding of how to conduct myself in a professional setting, how to set boundaries, and what industry to look for.

I took MKTG 381, Fundamentals of Marketing Research in spring of ‘25. This class explored topics in designing a research study, collecting, analyzing and using marketing research data to make effective marketing decisions, and communicating the research findings and their implications. This class was a huge part in my professional development in terms of public speaking, handling verbal deliverables, and critical thinking. Backing up all of my statements with numbers was a tough hurdle at first. It helped to push me to grow as a research marketer and teammate. I’ll be able to apply this experience to my future professional growth by using the research and critical thinking skills I developed to analyze consumer insights and confidently communicate recommendations in professional settings.

I took MKTG 382, Consumer Behavior, in tandem with MKTG 381. This class dove into the psychology of consumers, perception, motivation, learning, attitude structure and change, social influences and cultural forces that shape them. I liked that we were able to do multiple case studies and look at current companies to analyze their consumers. It challenged me to think critically, engage in discussion, and question my own perceptions. It helped to take this at the same time as market research because I was able to connect the journey from first exposure at a product, to a loyal die-hard of a brand. This is a class I’ll be able to apply to my future professional growth because it strengthened my ability to understand how consumers think, what motivates their decisions, and how brands can build meaningful relationships with their audiences.

The entire time I’ve attended WWU, I’ve worked a part time job as a sales representative and tea barista at a small, local, woman-owned tea shop in Bellingham. This job has greatly aided in my prioritization of time management, as well as people skills. Going to school full time, then working on top of that, while maintaining a life outside of that, has been very stressful at times. There have been quarters where I’ve worked additional jobs on top of this one, testing my abilities to handle copious amounts of work under pressure, with very little time. I’ve found that the more work I pile on however, the more I tend to get done – I almost find a sweet spot of pushing myself to operate at a high efficiency, while blocking out each hour of my day in my planner to get it done. At the job itself, I’ve been able to work on my people and conversational skills, pushing me to work on my sales bone. The value of working hard at a job, while in school, has been a valuable lesson on work ethic for my future professional growth.

I attended the WWU Marketing Career Launch and Holiday Mixer last winter. This event is an annual opportunity to learn insights from marketing alumni, as well as work on networking in a laid-back, casual setting. This was a really fun event that I went to with a few classmates. I learned a bit more about the current marketing career landscape, as well as got to practice my networking skills. It helped me de-stress a bit in terms of feeling prepared for post-grad life, hearing about alumni’s experience. This was an interesting one as well, because I worked on the marketing communications for this event beforehand, so seeing it for myself was really beneficial. This is an event I'll be able to apply to my future professional growth by strengthening my networking abilities and gaining insight into how professionals build and navigate their careers in marketing.