JULIA NEESON

Onboarding Summer of 2014: 

My Summer as a Southwest Airlines Intern

 

 

Before the Summer of 2014, I was accepted into my dream internship. I interned with Southwest Airlines as the Curriculum Development intern, flew Non-Revenue across the country every weekend, and learned so much about teamwork, company culture, and finding how to develop and integrate individual strengths into a large company.        

 

My personal development throughout the past summer was nothing but exponential, both in a professional and personal way. Throughout my work as a multimedia and content developer, I had to tackle the challenge of how my personal skills and talents could contribute and improve my team as a whole.  I found that the key to my personal motivation was maintaining constant professionalism, while proactively seeking ways for self-improvement, involvement, and opportunities. 

 

By applying my skills in written revision and attention to detail, I became a name in our department as a resource for a final check before publishing.  I also implemented design and beauty in every piece created for the company, which earned me a lot of extra work from those who wanted the same treatment to their projects. This positive feedback to hard work taught me that I love to do things well. I only felt a sense of satisfaction after turning in a project that I was confident was given my entire attention and dedication. Additionally, contributing to a company with such large numbers of both employees and profits showed me that I do have skills and talents that help and support a team.

Southwest is all about culture and teamwork. They thrive on bringing life and originality to even the most mundane projects- something that I live by as well. Throughout working in my department and beyond, I was constantly shown that teamwork and collaboration yield the best possible results. I am so thankful for the team that I was given to work with, because they showed me that a group of truly diverse individuals with a variety of skills and talents are capable of most anything. They worked well together, and demonstrated that careful delegation for the sake of formation does great things for growth and strength of a company.  I was shown amazing leadership through a manager that not only took time for personal update meetings every week, but also gave me amazing insight to what it means to lead an effective team that emphasizes individual relationship, personal connection, and a bit of humor.

 

Travelling with fellow interns, I came to an understanding that you can get almost anywhere in these great United States if you have twenty-four hours. Flying non-revenue and standby was nothing but an adventure; it took strategy, planning, patience, ability to make quick decisions, and spontaneity to truly enjoy and make the most of the opportunity. Finding flights was somewhat of a puzzle, solved mostly be research, trial and error, and luck. I flew over 24,000 miles throughout the summer and met so many amazing people along the way. These people, both strangers and companions, taught me that people are kind, willing to help, always up for an interesting conversation, and have a story of their own if you are willing to listen.  In a world overrun with constant texting and headphones that appear to be one with the human ear, it is really nice to experience interactions like that. 

 

I try to implement a focus on team and culture in my everyday life, especially in positions of leadership. Recognizing that the base of culture starts with trust and relationships, I always try to put people first. Southwest taught me that teams thrive on innovation through diversity and, most importantly, that I can be a part of that.