Summer is a popular time for students in the School of Human Environmental Sciences to complete their internships.  This series will spotlight student interns.

Bailey Akers, Merchandising, Apparel & TextilesStudent: Bailey Akers, Merchandising, Apparel & Textiles

Internship Location:  Bel- Air Florist and Gift Shop. Versailles, Ky

What is your typical day as an intern?  A typical work day consisted of processing incoming inventory (i.e. flowers or gift items). I also designed new features and displays when merchandise was sold or we received a new shipment. When Bel- Air had wedding events, I helped set up events and made corsages, boutonnieres, and bouquets.

What is one of the things you learned as a student that you use often as an intern?  As an intern, I used so many tools that I learned in school. The biggest things were from my visual merchandising class and how to effectively display merchandise - displaying products at different heights and color coordinating them to make them show up. I also used skills learned in our retail math class dealing with invoices, markups and freight cost that helped further my knowledge. 

What is one piece of advice you would give to students preparing for their internship? One piece of advice that I would give along with finding the right internship for yourself is taking the opportunity to learn as much as you can. Don't pass the time up just to receive the hours. Ask as many questions as you can and get perspectives of many of the employees. At my internship I learned so much by asking a lot of questions and interviewing my boss.  I am thankful to know information about owning your own business because in my future I hope to own a dress shop.