By: Clara, Digital Marketing Intern 2022 and BSc Geography student

The summer is coming to an end, and so is my internship here with the GeoSciences marketing department. As this is posted, I will be going into my last week as Digital Marketing Intern. Although I know this means that I have been interning for almost 12 weeks, it still feels as if I am finishing up too soon. As if I need to complete everything I have started just as I am getting comfortable with my work. Since my last post a month ago, I have managed to squeeze in two full weeks of holiday and a week of remote work from home. Yes, holiday! It was a happy surprise to me that the internship contract involved holiday days. The fact is that we 12-week Employ.Ed interns get 6 days of holiday to use up over our internship. I had been a bit worried that a 12-week internship would mean I’d miss the chance to go home and see my family. So the news of holiday days to use up came as a wonderful surprise, as I was able to take a few days off and go home for some time. And not only that but thanks to the wonderful idea that is hybrid work, I was also able to extend my stay with my family another week, by working remotely from my Mum’s flat in Sweden.

Coming back to Edinburgh at the end of last week, I felt both refreshed and ready to take on my final two weeks of the internship. I wanted to make the most of the time I have left. This new burst of energy was probably a pretty fortunate thing. This week, alongside trying to finish as much work as possible before I have to leave the department, I have had to brace something I never thought I would have the nerves for – a photoshoot. I am the first one to admit that I have always been (and probably always will be) more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it. A photoshoot would therefore have been very far down the list of things I would consider a fun experience. Yet, I both participated and had a fun time!

The photoshoot we had was to get some images of the GeoSciences facilities with students and staff working in them; donning lab coats, pointing at screens and taking and sorting various samples. I was initially really nervous being in front of the camera, but it became easier to be relaxed while modelling as I got used to and got to know both the photographer and the other student and staff models. We discovered that it was a lot easier to pose for images and look natural if we actually worked, talked, and did things in the laboratories, as opposed to just pretending to do so. We asked the lecturers to explain the facilities and their research rather than pretending to talk, listen and ask questions. This made the whole day feel more like a learning opportunity than a photoshoot and the camera became more of a thing in the background. It was easy to forget the stress of why I was there, and how many people might see me in those pictures in the future. 

Now, as I am thinking back to that day, it feels strange, borderline surreal, knowing that I modelled for those pictures. That I might be part of images that could at some point graze the front of the GeoSciences website or a programme brochure. That being said, I am very proud of myself for overcoming that fear of being in front of the camera as opposed to behind it. I also want to reflect on this photoshoot as one of many tasks I have completed over the weeks of my internship. It has been so interesting to be part of the behind-the-scenes of the school I study with. To know that I have also had the opportunity to impact how the school is viewed by its past, current, and future students, and the general public. That one day, a future student might see a social media post I have created, an image I have taken, or, and I stay this with slightly less excitement, one I have modelled in.