Brindy Arredondo

Major: Apparel, Merchandising, and Design
Company/Organization: CHS - Louise Rosenfeld Undergraduate Research Internship
Destination: Ames, Iowa
Timeframe: Spring 2023
Advisor/Coordinator Email: jbeyer

Responsibilities

The Louise Rosenfeld Internship is primarily research-based and is designed to prepare students for graduate school. With this internship, you choose a faculty member to work with and essentially help them with their research projects. I worked with a professor in AMD who has a focus on wearable art. I helped with various tasks for the submission of two garments to an international competition. To name a few, I researched art theories and helped ideate the theme for our garments, learned how to create digital patterns, learned how to use a laser cutter, and learned hand felting.

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment during this internship was my ability to adapt. This internship pushed me to learn many new skills, which I am thankful for but did not always come naturally. Whenever I encountered an issue, I learned to communicate with those around me for assistance and work around the obstacles.

Learning experience

This internship taught me the importance of building relationships and communication skills, especially in this career path. When working in a team setting, communication is crucial for all parties to understand their tasks at hand. Communication also allows for successful collaboration and learning from one another's skills. Building relationships and connections can open the door to more opportunities and provide a reference for future internship/job applications.

What advice would you give?

My advice for future students in the AMD program would be to work on your resume and portfolio early on and keep them updated. These two will be extremely important when applying for internships and jobs in the industry. The earlier you work on them and the more effort you put in, the more polished, professional, and appealing they will be for future employers. If you are considering pursuing a graduate degree, I would also work on a cover letter.

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