By Kylie Rowe

S enior mass communication major Gracie Hagen from Brunswick, Georgia, is a marketing intern at h2o Creative Group this summer, managing multiple social media accounts by creating content, maintaining media calendars and meeting with clients.

Hagen walked across the stage at commencement in May, but her for-credit internship with h2o completes the final piece of her liberal arts education, putting to the test all the theories she learned in class.

Hagen recently went to St. Simons to film content for a promotional video the h2o team is making for a real estate client. As a Brunswick native, Hagen felt that she has an eye for what locals want to see in content and knows how to entice people to come to a place she loves.

“The most busy and fun day is one that is full of meeting different clients, filming content with them, going over creative designs or visiting potential clients and negotiating terms of possibly working with them,” said Hagen.

Hagen is among hundreds of other Bobcats currently completing internships. 93% of 2024 graduates participated in high-impact learning practices like research, study abroad and internships.

In the Department of Communication, many faculty have prior industry experience they bring into the classroom, which Hagen says helped her know what to expect before even stepping into her internship. The Writing for Advertising and Public Relations class she took with Dr. Mikkel Christensen specifically prepared her for the kinds of communication she is creating and the writing she does for client projects.

However, as prepared as she was, there are things you can only find when being thrown in firsthand. Hagen, for example, says she is learning a lot about negotiating terms, budgets and creative deadlines with clients while at h2o.

“I think that being able to attend meetings with clients and potential clients gives me insight into how deals are negotiated, and that’s something that I never experienced firsthand before,” said Hagen.