My name is Taylor Helmcamp. I’m a senior at the University of Texas at San Antonio and I study global affairs, Russian, and linguistics. I heard about the Students+Startups Program via Handshake, a job-searching service my school’s Career Center utilizes to post internship and fellowship opportunities.
Why should others consider S+S and why is it beneficial?
I decided to apply to the S+S Program because I was searching for a meaningful internship opportunity that could offset the costs of living in another city (I’m from McAllen, Texas). If selected for S+S, there is an opportunity for the program to cover the cost of housing in San Antonio on top of the summer grant. With these obvious financial perks, applying to the S+S Program was a no-brainer for me.
After I was selected as an S+S Intern, I “matched” with the team at Launch San Antonio, a small business and entrepreneurship resource hub in the city. As an S+S Intern, the Launch SA team provided me with many opportunities to grow in social media marketing experience, such as making me the “Content Creation Project Lead” and sharing courses from HubSpot Academy. At the close of the internship, I had designed many graphics for promotional materials and obtained certifications in Social Media Marketing, Frictionless Sales, and Sales Management.
How did S+S contribute to your growth?
S+S contributed to my personal and professional growth because the program encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone. I am trained in research methods for topics in international relations, so S+S really took a chance on me by placing me in a small business environment with media and marketing needs. Through this experience, I realized that I am capable and can adapt to any business setting, whether large or small. Most of all, I learned some of the in’s and out’s of entrepreneurship, and now I hope to one day have my own small business.
What piece of advice would you give to an incoming S+S intern?
To any incoming S+S interns, my one piece of advice is to be flexible. This is your opportunity to learn new things from highly-skilled people who run small businesses on a daily basis. Even if your specific role as an intern expands or changes throughout the summer, look at it as an opportunity to challenge your comfort zone and to grow beyond your limits. The Students+Startups Program is the opportunity of a lifetime, so make the most of it!
