Knox Power of Experience grant helped make the internship possible

Shuchita Poddar recalls that when she was serving as public relations chair for the International Club a couple of years ago, “I was just having fun designing the I-Fair logo, magazine, posters, and merchandise. Little did I realize that I was channeling my creative skills for a possible career.”

Poddar interned at FlyDubai this past winter break for almost five weeks as a brand and communications intern. Knox's Power of Experience grant helped make the opportunity possible. During the internship, most of her tasks included proofreading documents newsletters. She also got the opportunity to attend management seminars, which helped her gain insight as to how companies handle their stakeholders.

Apart from those responsibilities, Poddar also studied FlyDubai’s brand and point-of-sale guidebooks. “I enjoyed that a lot because I have always been interested in promoting brand awareness. It’s been one of my goals to curate graphics using brand colors and fonts, whether for an internship at Mend Body Professionals or at the Office of Communications at Knox.”

Shuchita Poddar outside FlyDubai where she interened

Poddar has been working as the social media assistant for the Office of Communications since her sophomore year. The student worker position has helped her understand possibilities for her future career and narrow down her area of interest. Poddar loves creating graphics and content and this position has provided her with that opportunity to explore and experiment with her skills. "Shuchita has been an invaluable part of our office for three years now," said Lisa Van Riper, vice president for communications and ITS. "It's been great to watch her develop her social media skill set and take it to the international stage in Dubai."

The FlyDubai internship was unpaid, and Poddar was able to utilize her Power of Experience grant and Stellyes Awards to fund her trip to Dubai. Resources like Arabic Table—where members of the Knox community gather to practice speaking Arabic in a casual setting—helped her understand the language more. “You don’t have to know Arabic to go around in Dubai, but working for a company based there, I wanted to learn the language and put in the extra effort.” She recalled ordering a coffee in Arabic: “It was broken Arabic, and definitely not the best pronunciation, but I had joy in applying what I had learned.”

Spending her entire winter break in Dubai allowed Poddar a chance to explore. She said some of her favorite experiences included visiting different cafes, walking in Al Seef, going to various pavilions in Expo 2020, and a day trip to Fujairah. Rain is infrequent in Dubai and on her last day, it rained. “I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to my trip,” she said.

Poddar is currently applying for positions in the social media marketing industry. “I am looking forward to working with companies and understanding what goes into making their brand their own. With extracurricular and academics, Knox has helped me shape my personal and professional life, and I'm truly grateful for those experiences.”