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LONDON CALLING
American Intercontinental University
Study Abroad & Internship Program
Summer 2011
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The program
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Freshman year introductory fashion class first interest
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10-week program in the heart of London including two
classes (Fashion Journalism and Historical and Contextual
Studies of Fashion) and an internship from June 2, 2011,
through Aug. 13, 2011.
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I had to apply to the AIU program itself, then to the internship
program

Internship Coordinator with AIU submitted my Curriculum
Vitae and Statement of Purpose to possible internship
providers
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One other student and I went for an interview with the
chosen internship provider (Studio Thirteen)
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On the spot we were both given the internship
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The day to day at Studio Thirteen
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Calling potential clients

Cleaning
Greeting clients (buyers from
boutiques to Harrod’s)
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Mailings
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Modeling clothing for buyers
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Moving, unpacking, steaming
merchandise

Writing news releases

Visual merchandising
(displays, rails, mannequins)
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Business card spreadsheet
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Making tea and coffee for
clients
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“Hangering”
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Filing
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Scoop International Fashion Trade
Show
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Trade show: modeling as stand-up public relations, making
buyers and members of the press want something they did not
know they needed. There was even a press lounge.
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Scoop International Fashion
Trade Show
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What I learned

To have a thicker skin and not be as sensitive
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To be bold and to take initiative (pushed myself — and my
employer — beyond mundane internship tasks)

Discovered whether a career in the fashion industry is going
to be a good fit for my personality, attitude and career/life
goals for the future

I became more culturally aware of English and American
cultures by working with English coworkers and clients and
gauging their interactions with me
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Learned what fashion public relations entails and figured out
how it is distinct from fashion journalism
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JMC classes that prepared me

News and Feature Writing
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Advanced News and Feature Writing
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Editing and Design
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Introduction to Public Relations
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Mass Communication in Society
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Public Relations Writing (as an afterthought; I’m in this class
now)
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Apparel & Textiles courses
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But really nothing trades for the experience itself
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My evaluation
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Valuable to me as someone interested in fashion journalism
or fashion public relations, but for a journalism student not in
these niches I’m not sure how valuable it would be

I learned the other side of it – the public relations side and
the business side

When I work in fashion journalism someday this knowledge
of what a fashion agency is, how it works and the atmosphere
of the industry itself will have provided me life experience
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Much of the five weeks was spent at mundane intern duties,
but when I finally got the nerve to ask for more and different
work the internship improved
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Physically more trying than I could have prepared for
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The City of London
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A thriving diverse city where the
world’s cultures converge for
business and pleasure (No. 1
European city for business)
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Museums, the Royal Family and
history galore
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Luxury shopping
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Fashion shows & the Arts!
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A fashion mecca:
-London Fashion Week
-London College of Fashion
-The Fashion Museum
-Home to British Vogue, The Tatler, The
Sunday Times, a world media center
with CNN, the BBC, CNBC, Associated
Press, Reuters…