Rocking the encore

I've been nervous thinking about how I am going to wrap up this entire experience in my final blog post. The entire summer internship has been amazing, but I didn't know exactly how to put that into words. Luckily, Liggett has taught me to pull inspiration from everyday life. So here it goes...

My experience here at Liggett as an intern has been like a concert, a rock concert. And your favorite band is headlining.

It starts off with the opening. The lights are out and your nerves are fried. You're anticipating the best show ever but want to judge for yourself.

Days before the internship, I'd heard/read rave reviews about what the experience would be like. Expectations were high, but in the back of my mind I knew it was an internship. It could possibly be too good to be true.

The curtain drops and the drums are blasting, electric guitar kicks in and it's pure adrenaline right out of the gate. You sing along to every word, like it's somehow familiar but at an amped up level you've never experienced before.

From day one here, we were handed real assignments, acutal client work and propelled into creative executions. We had learned about this in class, but now it was in our hands. We got to create work that we could show off and be proud of.

After three or four headbanging jams, the band gives you a breather before taking you into the acoustic portion of the set list. You listen to the ballads and the slow jams, hanging on to every lyric and feeling what's behind each word.

We as interns, after a few short weeks, started digging deeper and deeper into the creative process, taking each of our mentor's words to heart and learning everything we could from them.

You've gotten to know your favorite band on a whole new level now. You're ready to rock again, giving it your all. You make sure you get the most out of this experience. No holding back. This is it. The finale. Time to get what you came here for.

These were our fieldtrips and our final executions, getting out and seeing the real world the way Liggett saw it, having professional projects for our portfolios. We couldn't have imagined we would've had so much fun doing what we love, all while calling it 'work.'

The band clears the stage and you are left with a sense of accomplishment. You can't believe what you've just experienced. You get a minor sense of shock with how fast it all passed. Then the band jumps back on stage with a final blast. Rocking the encore.

We had real intern projects and book reports. It wasn't just the projects that gave us a sense of accomplishment; it was the recognition and support from everyone around us that made the experience that much better. We presented our work to the whole agency and to our parents, friends and families, all bursting with pride.

So here I am today, Thursday afternoon. Tomorrow is the last day, and looking back I'm grateful for everything Liggett and the fellow inters have put me through. I couldn't have asked for a better intern experience.

With that, I want to say thanks for sticking with us! We hope you guys enjoyed reading about our experiences half as much as we enjoyed going through them.

Thanks you Liggett Stashower! Goodnight!

Ben L.

Creative Intern