August 9, 2013

A Summer Intern Perspective

We were lucky to have Chelsea Buel join us for the summer before she returns to Virginia Polytechnic Institute.  She took a moment to reflect on her experiences here:

Over my spring break, I had the opportunity to come into the office to meet with Sarah Nolan and a few of the partners to talk to them about a chance to intern here at KRA. I remember that the few people I talked to that day seemed so friendly and easy to talk to.

After the meeting, I spoke with Sarah alone to interview her for a school project. I asked her questions about her job as an interior designer and learned more about the office and her experience at KRA. After leaving the office, I felt even more excited about the chance to intern here for the summer and hoped to hear back from them about an opening.  When I got the email later that semester, I couldn't have been happier to join the team for the summer.

On my first day, I got to sit down with Sarah and discuss what I wanted from this internship. I remember her telling me that she wanted me to have a great experience this summer and that she would do all that she could to make sure that I did. It felt great to know that the people here really did care about my experience and I wasn't just another intern in their eyes.

During my internship I got to experience much more than I had imagined. Some of the valuable experiences I had were the opportunity to go to client meetings and helping with field measurements. It was great to sit in on the meetings to see how they are run and to learn about how the engineers, contractors, and architects work together on a project. I not only had the opportunity to work with Sarah, but I also worked with some of the architects on projects. One of the things I loved about my internship is that I was able to do so many different things. I got to work in Revit (helping with construction documents, and creating existing condition models), and I helped with finish selections, researched & created product/furniture spreadsheet comparisons, worked on exterior and interior color studies, created marketing brochures, and much more.

My summer interning at Kuhn Riddle has been a great experience, and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with. Everyone was so welcoming from day one and were always happy to answer any of the questions I had (I know I asked a lot!).  I really enjoyed working here this summer and I look forward to applying what I learned here in my future.