Students to Marketing – Week 4: Crafting Stories and Inspiring Design
As we venture further into the intricate realm of marketing, each week unravels new opportunities and challenges. Our roles as high school co-op students at U+ Education continue to shape our understanding of the marketing landscape. This week, we delved into impactful projects like Mojo’s Story and graphic design tasks, actively contributing to U+’s overarching mission. Join us as we embark on this week’s journey, sharing our experiences as marketing assistants, the hurdles we overcame, the skills we refined, and the connections we forged with colleagues and supervisors.
What were the most significant tasks or projects you worked on this week, and how did they contribute to U+'s goals and objectives?
Jacob Lee – Digital Content Creator: This week, my biggest project was the Mojo’s Story task. I believe that these stories are great for U+ students as they can teach the younger students to read, and the older students important life lessons such as managing a business (the topic of my story). I also finished working on the September 24th Gavel Club recap, which I think is helpful for delivering a fast summary of the Gavel Club meetings.
Freya Bernadette McDermott – Digital Content Creator: I made several children’s books for U+, each adding to the catalog of books that can be used by teachers in their classrooms. I also made several designs of all current Mojo and Mojito variants as standing pngs. This will help U+ create more engaging stories and promotional material. I feel that all of the work that I did in the past week, along with everything in the previous week has been contributing a lot to completing U+’s goals.
Describe a challenge you encountered during your work this week. How did you approach and overcome this challenge, or what steps did you take to seek assistance and learn from it?
Jacob Lee – Digital Content Creator: My biggest challenge was with blurring out faces for the Gavel Club recap based on the attendee consent list. The editing itself wasn’t too difficult, but the list I was given was incomplete and didn’t include the names of every attendee in the meeting. I contacted Carson Fong about it as he was managing this project, and he took the time to contact the parents of the attendees who were missing from the list. We didn’t get a response in time so we just decided that I’d blur out the faces of anybody who isn’t on the list just in case, and in the end it worked out either way.
Freya Bernadette McDermott – Digital Content Creator: I had accidentally saved my Mojo files in the wrong format, causing them to have rough, white edges, and be slightly blurry. My supervisor for the project entailing them asked me to fix it, so I spent half an hour going through the Illustrator file, saving each different Mojo and Mojito variant as pngs, this was a difficult challenge, as even though I had them all in the same folder under the right names, it was tedious work going through and setting the folders to visible and not visible as I went down the files, as each one was made up of at least twenty different shapes.
Reflect on the skills you utilized or developed this week. Which skills were the most important for your tasks, and how do you see them benefiting your future career aspirations?
What interactions or collaborations with colleagues or supervisors stood out to you this week? How did these interactions enhance your understanding of the workplace and the industry?
Jacob Lee – Digital Content Creator: Akshitha Garikamukkala and Ambika Singh were very helpful in reminding me of what needed to be done and when, as sometimes I can lose track of old tasks while doing new ones. It taught me to always triple-check old posts and messages to make sure I’m not missing anything.
Freya Bernadette McDermott – Digital Content Creator: I had a brainstorming session with Emily when they asked me to create a standing variation of Mojo, and we talked together about how I should anthropomorphize Mojo, because Mojo is a kind of yellow deer, or something similar. My first design utilized the shape of the front legs over the underbelly, I used a similar shape to show the gap between the back legs. my second design also included the leg gap, but I made this design a quadruped, as deer tend to walk on four legs, this design was more of a gag. Finally, the last design was based on a more chibi, squashed design, with a bigger head, and a chubbier body, and stubby legs.
Consider any insights or lessons you've gained about U+'s industry or the professional world in general. How do these insights align with your career goals, and do they influence your perspective on your future path?
Jacob Lee – Digital Content Creator: Before researching U+ Education, I wasn’t actually too familiar with this form of educational website. I believe that organizations like this are great for students who need the extra attention and tutoring, along with those looking to get into the career field.
As we conclude yet another productive week in our co-op journey, we reflect on the myriad experiences we’ve gathered. Challenges were met with determination, skills were honed, and connections with colleagues and supervisors were strengthened.
The professional landscape continues to reveal the significance of effective communication and adaptability. At U+, we’ve glimpsed into the world of education and marketing, learning valuable lessons that align with our future aspirations. Our path unfolds from students to marketing enthusiasts, enriched with newfound wisdom and a deeper understanding of our chosen careers.