Seven marketing interns race toward a looming deadline. With only three weeks to go until their final presentation, will they deliver the goods on time? Will all team members make it to the finish line?

OK, so maybe the halfway point of Wray Ward’s FORM summer internship doesn’t call for such a dramatic introduction, but with only four weeks left, it’s hard to escape the sound of the imaginary clock ticking in the background. Luckily, we jelled into a true team not long after we met.

A comprehensive, integrated marketing campaign is a requirement of the FORM internship program. Reading our assignment on paper in the beginning, after completing so many projects in college, this almost seemed easy (spoiler: it isn’t).

After diving in on day one, we turned a brief into three distinct concepts and presented it to a real agency client. This work is good practice for us, but it’s also the real deal, and that knowledge empowered and pushed us to produce the best possible result.

Our project isn’t complete, but one thing’s for sure: we feel a little wiser today than we did in early June. Here are a few things we’ve learned.

1. Success is shared. In a collaborative environment, creative ideas are continuously flowing. Even if the creative team pitches the plan, every other department becomes the support to drive a campaign. At Wray Ward, strong work comes to life because every team member gets 100 percent onboard before a concept moves forward.
2. Get involved in other parts of the agency. At first, I worried about overstepping my boundaries by asking to sit in on meetings outside of the Public Relations and Content team. I quickly learned people at this agency are excited to share their knowledge and help us learn. Being a part of the FORM team also helps connect the agency dots and understand how everyone works together.
3. Plan for the speed bumps. Going into our big FORM project, we thought we had a clear idea of where we were going during our first meeting. One day later, we received research that caused us to completely shift our original concepts. The end product turned out better than the original, but we had to learn how to think quickly and strategically to push our project forward and stay on deadline.
4. Ask questions. In college, when you want to learn, you go to class and listen to your professor. But at Wray Ward, every person is an expert at what they do. As FORM interns, we have the opportunity to shadow and work with some of the best in the industry, and the best way to learn from them is to ask questions. Ask for advice. Ask for feedback. Ask to go to a meeting. Ask for lunch spot recommendations. Soak up the knowledge you crave and the information that will help you learn and grow.

As interns, we’re far from experts. Luckily, we’ve had the Wray Ward team behind us every step. Their advice, encouragement and criticism have been imperative to accomplishing our goal. Along the way, we’ve learned not only how a campaign comes together, but also how a team comes together.

This race is far from over, but we can see the finish line in the distance now. It’s going to take every member of our team to achieve our goals, and we’re sure to hit some uphill climbs along the way. Do we accept this challenge? Absolutely (but first we need another cup of coffee).