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According to Edelman’s 2021 Trust Barometer, business has emerged from the past year’s tumult as our most trusted institution – considered more credible than the media by the American public.

In fact, fewer than half of all Americans acknowledge any kind of trust in mainstream media, and 56% of Americans believe that “[j]ournalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.”

Why Your Business Needs to Stay Engaged With Media

So why would any business leader bother trying to connect with customers and prospects through the media? On top of the loss of trust, you’ve also got the eternal challenge of ceding control. You can deliver your message to a reporter, but how it gets delivered to the audience, if at all, is entirely up to her and her editors.

In spite of all this, we continue to believe that every business leader should engage with the media as a tool for building their authority, burnishing their brand and fueling their business development. It’s not possible to be a true authority without putting your insights through the gauntlet of media scrutiny. We know those purchasing professional services still trust traditional media – and that it influences their purchasing decisions. And furthermore, it’s possible to ensure your messages get delivered through the media – if you understand successful participation.

Maybe you know all of that and still aren’t convinced. If so, here’s another reason: serendipity. Participating in conversations in the media makes it far more likely that a client or prospect will stumble across your name, your insights or your authority. In other words, rather than connecting on your terms – through one of your owned properties, at a conference, or any other channels you use to get out your message – you’ll be connecting on theirs. Rather than feeling like your message is being pushed on them, your client or prospect will feel like they discovered it themselves – perhaps right at a moment when, searching out answers or new information, they need it the most.

Serendipity & Search Rankings

Intuitively, anyone who has scanned a newspaper page, flipped through a magazine or scrolled a news website can recall the experience of landing on a headline that catches their attention and then reading a story they weren’t searching for. Nowadays, when we finish reading that story we’re more likely to pull up Google and go hunting for more information about what we just read – or about the person who delivered the most insightful quotes.

More importantly, news stories generally rank higher in Google search results than most owned content. Google’s algorithm – more accurately, the software people who build it – clearly believe news stories are, as a whole, more trustworthy than other content. That means links to those stories are more likely to appear on the first page of search results on just about any topic.

And in a bizarre twist, surveys show users trust Google News more than other sources of news – including the publications whose articles it links to. Maybe this is because readers trust the order in which Google presents news stories more than they trust the editors at those publications. Or maybe it’s because they don’t understand there’s a difference between the two.

Whatever the reason, participating in media makes your name and insights more likely to appear in the stories that rank highest in many Google searches. So that potential client searching for information in your area of expertise is more likely to encounter your perspective if it’s in a news story than if it’s on your website.

The Bottom Line: Media Participation Works

We started with a number of data points showing the public’s lack of trust in media. But that might not tell the whole story. Our own research, for instance, shows that C-suite executives continue to trust traditional media above other sources. And a Gallup/Knight Foundation survey from last year found that Americans perceive the media as biased – but that perception is largely related to their political beliefs.

Taken together, these surveys indicate that executive audiences think of the business press separately from the political press. And there is ample data to support the instinctual belief that media coverage is an invaluable lead-generation tool.

The bottom line: even as eroding trust gives you another reason to question the value of earned media, participating in the media conversation remains vital – not just for building your credibility as an authority, but to ensure your prospective audience will find you. Especially when they weren’t looking.

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Should we put out a statement? Apply this decision tree and find out 

We saw it last year in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. We saw it again after the storming of the U.S. Capitol in January, and again amid the Georgia voting-rights outcry. We’re seeing it now in the wake of the guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin.

It’s getting harder and harder for business leaders to remain silent or neutral when events trigger an emotional public response. But while speaking publicly on these issues will always carry risks, the outcome also presents an opportunity – if not an obligation – to communicate.

In these moments, being able to draw on well-defined organizational values – what you stand for, and how you demonstrate and encourage behavior that lives up to it – should make the process easier, the reception less controversial and the potential for blowback less likely. But not all organizations’ values are apparent enough to make this communication easier. Some aren’t apparent at all.

If your organization falls into either of the latter two categories, our counsel is to get busy defining your values, in writing, now. Whatever happened in Georgia, or the Chauvin trial, it’s clear this won’t be the last time you’ll need something to guide you in addressing sensitive social moments. It may not be the last time this month.

But in the meantime, we’re also here to tell you that, no matter where you are in defining your values, you can get to a sensible decision if you think it through.

Applying a decision tree

Imagine for a moment the decision tree you might apply to the Chauvin scenario. 

  • Will members of your constituency be impacted by this event? Very likely, given the impact and meaning of the event to Black and brown communities who are disproportionate victims of police violence; that said, in this and other scenarios, it may depend on how you define your constituency: Is it your employees? Your clients? The communities you work in and serve? All or some of the above?
  • Will you feel pressure from employees, clients, vendors or activists/other parties to take a position? This depends on your proximity to the event, but organizations of all types are experiencing this pressure more and more. If you’ve come this far and expect pressure to respond, then this is a no-brainer. You need to prepare a statement. 

But hold on. The decision tree doesn’t end there. Consider this:

  • Is this issue divisive, and/or is your statement likely to cause disagreement or division within your constituency? Put differently, will your constituency agree in its interpretation of the outcome as clearly right or clearly wrong? In the best of circumstances, unanimity is rare in a pluralistic society. It certainly seems impossible within our current hyperpartisan pluralism. So, the answer is likely a yes.

So do you prepare a statement? The decision is no longer quite so clear, complicated by the high likelihood that while you may satisfy one segment of your audience, you risk alienating another or creating divisions among segments – between say, those employees who would defund the police and others who support Blue Lives Matter.   

Thus, your decision needs to run through another critical filter:

  • Is the issue aligned with your organization’s mission? If it aligns with or impacts your mission, start writing.
  • Have you made such statements in the past? Have you taken actions to back those statements up? The authenticity and credibility of any statement issued to address a fraught moment will not be judged against the values that you claim to profess but by the values you demonstrate through your actions. Values reveal themselves in observable behavior. And an organization that claims to stand for diversity and inclusion, but which has done nothing to advance diversity and inclusion, needs to think carefully about how it participates in the conversation about diversity and inclusion or risk alienating its audience.  

All that said, it is quite possible that your mission is in no way related to the circumstances of this event. Whether you’re back in no-brainer territory depends on the final branch of this decision tree:

  • Is everyone in your organization clear about what it values?
    • If yes, does the recent event offend those values? If yes again, your decision to communicate is clear.
    • If no – or you’re not sure – does it present an opportunity to affirm your organizational values? To evolve them? Or to contribute to positive change through a statement followed by a change in behavior?

The need to define your organization’s values – today

As we’ve seen, sometimes the decision gets trickier the more you think about it – especially if you started thinking about it  for the first time the night before the verdict.

Remember that any statement that is not rooted in broadly recognized organizational values will be (correctly) judged to lack authenticity and credibility. Rather than contribute to the conversation, it will add to the noise. Under these circumstances, it would be better that you say nothing. As we’ve seen, the backlash against companies that offer weak statements regarding depredations of social justice can be fierce. 

This is the world we live in: Events that trigger strong emotions on a nationwide scale are coming at us with alarming frequency, and people are looking to business executives for leadership with an intensity that may make many executives uncomfortable. Our recommendation: If you haven’t applied thoughtful energy to defining what your organization values and how you will demonstrate and encourage behavior that expresses those values, this is the time for it. It has never been more necessary. 

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As Women’s History Month draws to a close, we asked some of our colleagues to reflect on some of the women who have paved the way for our careers today:

“I look forward to a time, in the not-so-distant future, when we no longer look forward to ‘firsts’ as milestones women have yet to achieve, but we look back on them as historic events that continue to teach and inspire.” – Dee Dee Myers, former White House Press Secretary; first woman to hold the position

I think of Vice President Kamala Harris. Yes, we must acknowledge that we have our first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president. It’s vital to recognize this moment in our history. But let’s not let the “first” diminish the work – significantly more work, in fact – that she did to earn this position. And I also think of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s answer to “When will there be enough?” – “When there are nine,” she said – and I know that women today remain the exception to the rule despite all the progress we have made.

I’d venture to guess (perhaps optimistically) that we’ve entered a decade where there will be a shift in how we refer to ourselves to the way our male counterparts do – as accomplished professionals, creators, human beings. Much of this shift is in our language – how we define ourselves, how we talk about each other – and how we support each other to ensure we’re not reinforcing systems that have kept certain groups of people down. The “firsts” are important, but let’s get to a place where counting seems ridiculous. Absurd. Or mundane. – Diana Dixon

“I believe that good journalism, good television, can make our world a better place.” – Christiane Amanpour, veteran journalist and correspondent for CNN

As a young woman working in PR, it is fundamentally important to believe that my work makes the world a better place. Creating authoritative content for our clients not only positions them as thoughtful leaders but introduces unique insights into our ever-changing world. It is empowering to work in a field that contributes significant ideas and engages the public each day. – Celia Dewyer

“Listen deeply to all kinds of audiences — through all kinds of media — so you bring a convincing, uniquely ‘outside’ perspective to the table. A broad understanding of public opinion and trends will bring authority to your advice. Then add big-picture analysis that helps put business decisions into a sound context.” – Marilyn Laurie, the first woman to become chief communications officer of a Fortune 10 company

There are two aspects of Marilyn’s quote that resonate with me: the deep listening and the unique point of view that comes with women gaining authority. Over the years, I’ve observed that women are particularly equipped with the deep empathy required to effectively listen to multiple audiences, synthesize and act on what they hear. While it has taken a long time, in the last decade more executive teams have recognized and propelled women into executive positions due in part to their innate abilities to effectively listen, gather, analyze and communicate in ways that improve decision-making. – Pam Munoz

“The profession of counsel on public relations is so new that all who are engaged in it, men as well as women, are pioneers. No traditions have grown against women’s participation in it, and women will share the responsibility of developing and shaping this new profession. It is so new that its ultimate possibilities for women lie in the future.” – Doris Fleischman, writer and lead publicist for one of the first PR firms in the 1930s

I am struck by the notion that a woman like Doris was able to advance in the newly founded industry of PR, uninhibited by social constructs. As we look to the future and reflect on the women who made this possible, I see women at the forefront, creating more industries in which they will thrive and creating inclusive environments along the way, similarly undeterred and inspired by those who came before them. – Abby Cohen

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In January, the leaders of Twitter, Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon did something that no elected representative in Congress can do to the head of our federal government. Each imposed severe, unprecedented limits on the powers of a U.S. president.

Responding much faster than Congress to the will of the people — not as voters but as consumers — the chief executives demonstrated publicly and conclusively that, when it comes to circumscribing the powers of our government’s leader, they’re more effective than members of any other branch.

The heads of Reddit, Snapchat and Shopify followed suit, banning or severely restricting the 45th president of the United States from their platforms.

“[CEOs] have money, they have power, and they have more of the public’s trust than politicians do. And they’re using all of it in an attempt to preserve America’s system of governance,” writes Felix Salmon in his article “How CEOs became the 4th branch of government.”

With this power comes, of course, great responsibility —and a new kind of regulator, more powerful than the courts or the legislatures. Consumers can use their buying power and collective social influence to keep the “fourth branch” — let’s call it the C-branch — in check.

In such a world, the CMO becomes a CEO’s most valuable, versatile ally — a critically important conduit between the C-branch and consumers. These days, they must do more, a lot more, than simply articulate positions, craft messages and disseminate information internally and externally.

The office of the CMO must also have its ear to the ground to pick up what’s on consumers’ minds — their predilections, pain points and latest causes for social and political concern — and be able to transmit all of that back to CEOs to help them make critical, high-stakes and well-informed decisions.

Like whether it’s time to deactivate a sitting president’s Twitter account.

The C-Suite’s New Utility Player

These new conditions – driven by the primacy of social and environmental concerns among present and emerging generations of consumers – have changed the game for CMOs.

The game-change has accelerated the diversification and elevation of the importance of CMOs duties and obligations that had been occurring steadily over the last 20 years. For much of that time the primary driver was technology, especially the increasing importance (and sophistication) of data analytics and AI.

Far more than just a chief marketing messenger, the CMO is now something of a CIO too — an executive who, if not working directly with information technology, must understand it well enough to take full advantage of the growing array of digital marketing tools.

Additionally, the roles of the CMO and Chief Communications Officer are becoming more integrated by the day. They must be in order to achieve what Maja Pawinska Sims calls a better alignment with “brand and corporate narrative.” As honest, relevant, human tale-telling becomes even more closely connected to the P&L, the C-suite’s storytellers are increasingly relied upon to develop new tales.

It is not incorrect, then, to refer to the CMO as the C-suite’s new utility player, the executive who must know a little bit about every other position in order to help the CEO make sense of challenges and opportunities, especially in relation to the Three Rs: Revenue, Relationship, and Reputation.

Revenue & Relationships are the CMO’s Job Too

Reputation has long been in the domain of the CMO. Marketing’s ties to revenue run deep, but the new order makes them inseparable. And relationship has traditionally resided outside the chief marketer’s purview.

Using a deep understanding of both customers and community, CMOs can and must actively identify and broker new kinds of relationships for their companies. Success will make them indispensable lieutenants, especially when it comes to helping CEOs influence “constituents” — as elected officials do.

A focus on revenue means CMOs need more than just hallway collegiality with the CFO; they need to develop an active, healthy relationship. They must also help persuade the finance chief that today, what’s good for customers and communities is good for the company’s bottom line.

Rather than be put off by such a prospect, chief marketers should view the present as an opportunity to, as Jann Schwarz writes, “reclaim a more strategic role” through a key relationship with the CFO.

“[The CMO’s] creativity and imagination (combined with commercial discipline and a customer lens) can drive a sustainable and competitive advantage” through such a rapprochement, writes Schwarz.

Clearly, this is not your mother’s or your father’s CMO.

The New Corporate Narrative: Social Responsibility

In this brave new world, the CMO is the CEO’s eyes and ears, both messenger and oracle, watching how our market-society, and the people who comprise it, are moving, shifting, aligning and re-aligning.

This means that CMOs can no longer compartmentalize company narratives, social responsibility and profitable growth. As the last Business Roundtable made eminently clear, these are now intertwined and interdependent considerations, not to mention the focus on the three Rs.

CMOs who are paying attention and playing the long game know that social responsibility is the narrative and that terms such as “social impact” and “sustainability” are something more than fleeting hashtags to be expressed merely through a sprinkling of green on the logo.

And it will remain the narrative until norms have changed so dramatically that, among successive generations of consumers, it will be one of many unspoken expectations that leaders must be, at the very least, as committed to doing no harm — socially, environmentally — as they are to generating a return on investment for shareholders.

Perhaps the CMO’s greatest value, then, will be in perceiving what is moving the market. Or more accurately who is moving it: consumers and clients who are not data points, who are not math problems, but real, live people, governed by ever-shifting social norms and fickle human nature.

And who can vote any time, from anywhere, for unelected leaders in that fourth branch of government using something that may soon be more powerful than the ballot: their credit cards.

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Too many of today’s aspiring thought leaders are more concerned with simply being part of the conversation than adding to it in a meaningful way.

There can be a lot of reasons for this. Often it’s a feeling that they have to keep pace with competitors – the marketing equivalent of FOMO – even if they don’t have anything new to say. Other times, thought leaders have a lot to say, but are afraid their perspective could offend someone, somewhere, and cost them business.

It’s a problem because in almost every case it strips the would-be thought leadership of a point of view – which we believe is essential for establishing authority.

Here’s what aspiring authorities need to know.

Defining POV in the professional services context

The clearest and most succinct definition of point of view that I’ve ever come across is this: a point of view is a statement that others might disagree with.

Consider that a point of view is (by definition) not a statement of fact. Like any good piece of writing, or any good dinner guest, a solid POV should incite further conversation rather than close it off by simply repeating what’s already been said, stating the obvious or saying something patently false or outrageous. A point of view, like those thesis statements we learned about in middle school, suggests a well-constructed argument – and the best arguments are typically those that persuade, excite, or push the conversation forward using hard facts, engaging writing and illustrative examples.

Marketers at professional services firms might say, “Well yes, this is all well and good in theory, but the consensus-driven partnership structure of my organization makes it difficult to actually achieve.” And of course they’re right. It’s rare to find a lawyer or consultant who really wants to go out on a limb and risk offending their partners, clients or potential clients. The rub is that this is often what makes the best point of view – just look at any newspaper’s most read op-ed pieces.

And yet there is a middle ground here. Just because someone might disagree with a point of view doesn’t mean it has to be controversial or combative. For instance, it might simply be, “You’d do it this way? Interesting. Here’s why I think you should do it this way instead…”

Alternatively, sometimes a compelling, subjective point of view shines through the voice and distinct personality of the writer. Most movie critics, for instance, fawned over Moonlight (see: a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes). But the lack of dissension doesn’t render each critic’s review moot. That’s because good critics express that same opinion in new and unique ways – through their individual experiences, interesting historical and industry context, their personal prose style – that set each review apart and opens up more space for conversation and disagreement.

Similarly, a consultant could agree that we need more focus on environmental, social and governance considerations at the board level (at this point, who doesn’t?). But they may also disagree on the best ways to go about it – or simply have different priorities. They may view it through the lens of, say, the consultant’s stint in South Africa during apartheid, or in advising directors who were early ESG adopters. Nobody needs to hear another call to adopt ESG. But drawing on unique experiences could help make the case for ESG in a way that nobody else has.

All of which brings me to another definition, one perhaps more palatable to professional services firms: a point of view is a statement that is made more compelling by virtue of the author’s unique perspective.

How to find your professional services firm’s POV in 4 steps

Crafting a quality POV takes work. Namely – and this is what most would-be thought leaders elide – what you want to say is only one part of the puzzle. You also need to understand what’s already been said about the topic and what your audience wants to hear about the topic. Only then can you figure out what you (and ideally only you!) can bring to the table.

Ask yourself, or the would-be thought leader you’re working with, these four questions to get there:

1) Can you frame the topic as a “how” or “why” question?

This question should articulate a pain point of a particular audience, e.g., “How should corporate leaders maintain their culture when everyone’s working from home?”

Forcing yourself to frame your topic this way not only directs your content towards an audience need, but does so in a way which pushes past the simple “what” (i.e., the information anyone could find on Wikipedia or a news site) and into the more meaty terrain of “why” or “how.”

2) What has been – and is being – said about the topic you want to write about?

Think of this as an audit of the current conversation. If your objective is to add to that conversation meaningfully, you have to know what’s been said so that you don’t merely repeat what everyone already knows.

Remember, this is the first step in an iterative process. It’s possible that you’ll start out thinking you have a unique POV, only to find three people have already said the same thing. So keep digging. Sometimes the solution is to think smaller and find a narrower, more specific angle (or audience); in other words, to do more with less rather than less with more. Other times, you might find an existing POV that you disagree with, which can act as a springboard for your own (“Numerous folks have said X…but I believe that Y is the right answer…”). And other times the solution will come from how you, specifically, can address the issue.

This step is where research (and a partner like Greentarget…hint, hint) can play an important role, be it by assessing media narratives, analyzing keyword search patterns or surveying audiences to get a more accurate picture of their views and concerns.

3) What does your desired audience need and/or want to hear about this topic?

Put yourself in your audience’s shoes: What’s keeping them up at night when it comes to this issue? What don’t they know that they should be prepared for? How can you illustrate this in a way that will grab their attention (i.e. with specific examples, anecdotes, statistics, etc.)? And, perhaps most importantly, why do they need to know this right now?

In our research, we’ve found that when it comes to thought leadership content, utility is what attracts C-suite executives to content more than any other attribute. Utility disrupts the professional services sales cycle by answering the question “what do I need to do to navigate or address this issue today?” Ideally, it provides the answer before the audience has asked it. It empowers audiences to act by tipping the scales from passive consumer to engaged prospect. With utility, authorities will be heeded. Without utility, it’s all just talk. More talk means more noise.

4) Why should you be the one to write this?

Once you’ve assessed the current conversation and your audience’s needs, you’ll be in a good position to figure out what you can uniquely add to the conversation. Here the (admittedly aspirational) test for good thought leadership might be: Could someone else have written his?

Of course, it’s unrealistic to think that you are, say, the only accountant that can dish insights around the complexities of PPP loan forgiveness. But that’s where your personal voice and experience – attributes that no one else has – comes in. This can be professionally related, sure, but it can also be more personal: Can you connect this to something you’ve experienced? Some other industry or news trend you’re following? A hobby of yours? A client you’ve assisted in the past?

At the end of all this, hopefully you’ll have something that doesn’t just add to the noise – but contributes to a smarter conversation.

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By Amanda Go

As a Northeastern University sophomore in pre-pandemic life, I – like many other college students – was naturally brimming with questions of “What if?” What if I study abroad next semester? What if I secure an internship across the country? What if I stay in Boston the whole year, looking to grasp that still-elusive notion of “independence”?

When COVID-19 hit in March, it felt like the pandemic had stolen all my plans. I moved from my city apartment back to my hometown in suburban Connecticut, and over the subsequent months of stay-at-home orders, online classes and a canceled summer study abroad and internship, those questions of “What if?” dwindled.

Looking toward the fall, my potential opportunities seemed to further decline. Rather than doing the internship that typically comprises half a Northeastern academic year, I prepared to enroll in more online classes – until a last-minute search in my school’s career database yielded a job posting that piqued my interest.

By July, that posting turned into reality when I began my virtual public relations internship with Greentarget. Over the next six months, I learned that living and working remotely from my hometown did not diminish possibility or opportunity – that, with the right company culture and mindset, I could pursue “what ifs” as great and ambitious during a pandemic as any time prior.

Navigating a Virtual PR Internship During a Pandemic

The first days of my internship largely consisted of learning about Greentarget and the PR industry, meeting my colleagues via Microsoft Teams and completing practice assignments. Despite taking numerous PR classes in college, I realized PR in the classroom was vastly different than in practice. After initially struggling to grasp the practical uses of a media list or even remember everyone’s names, I quickly became nervous. After reading complex legal news (a definite first) to familiarize myself with topics pertinent to GT’s client base, I felt under-qualified.

Though my confidence surely increased over time, to say it was constant after those first few days, or perhaps even those first few months, would be a stretch. I made multiple mistakes, from overlooking an email and taking another intern’s assignment, to missing articles on a coverage summary, to using the wrong “your” in a pitch. Working alone in my house, states away from my colleagues – and thus unable to quickly resolve these issues in person – it was easy for me to catastrophize each one.

During my early months, I sent multiple emails and Teams messages – whether frantically apologizing for a barely late assignment or warily asking for help with a complicated research project – that I now look back on with a sort of comical nostalgia. Turns out that while I thought I’d be met with hostility or annoyance, I was consistently met with openness and reassurance. I soon saw that despite working virtually, I was surrounded by teammates, from fellow interns to senior executives, who wanted to support me and see me succeed, who encouraged asking even the smallest and silliest questions and who viewed errors with patience and understanding and as opportunities to learn. Thankfully, I can now reflect on all my little mistakes and laugh, knowing they were (contrary to my beliefs at the time) not the end of the world.

It’s only a slight exaggeration to say I understood the inclusive and caring nature of Greentarget’s culture before understanding the full uses of a media list. Through weekly staff meetings that often incorporated discussions about favorite restaurants, albums or places traveled; intern meetings that allowed my voice to be heard; and one-on-ones with teammates who never hesitated to offer project help or to just chat, I was constantly surprised at how connected I felt to my colleagues. GT even made the effort to host virtual events like escape rooms, meditation and yoga, a bartending class and even a concert from G. Love. I realized that contributing to a company that valued its employees was far more important than whether I was working virtually or in person – and that a strong culture not only could transcend this distance but was crucial to making remote work enjoyable and fulfilling.

Embracing the Unexpected

Over the following months, largely due to the immense support around me, I cultivated an unyielding attitude of positivity and tenacity that allowed big “what ifs” to resurface. What if I secure this byline in Bloomberg? What if I place this quote in Law360? Gradually, I saw myself make fewer mistakes, complete assignments with more poise and efficiency and answer more questions than I asked in the interns’ group chat. One month I was fangirling over my first response from a New York Times reporter (literally, as if from the Queen herself), and a few months later I was presenting my own PR plan addressing corporate responses to racism. As interns before me left and others joined, I realized I’d become a resource to new team members, contributing to the cycle of support that threads through GT.

Put simply, my first full-time internship was not what I expected. I didn’t expect to coordinate and sit in on interviews with CNBC reporters while drinking a green tea from the café I’ve loved since middle school. I didn’t expect to draft press releases for clients while sitting at a desk that was once covered in AP exam and SAT prep books. Above all, I didn’t expect a virtual internship during a global pandemic to be so impactful.

Through working full time while managing the trials and tribulations of living at home – shared workspaces with four family members, video meetings with my barking dog and especially the hurricane that took out our Wi-Fi for days and knocked a tree onto my car (got to love New England weather) – I learned how to not only welcome uncertainty but thrive in it. I learned that when things don’t go according to plan, and they never do, adaptability is a must. Prior to this internship, I always imagined experiences like the quintessential study abroad as the greatest catalysts for growth in college – but as I near the end of my time with GT, I see that living and working remotely from my hometown, a place I’ve known for 20 years, has, ironically enough, made me grow more than ever.

This January, I’ll return to Boston for classes after 10 months of living at home and six months of a pandemic internship. Although I soon may begin to feel the first inklings of normalcy, I’ll always carry with me what I’ve learned through my virtual experience with GT – from small bits of knowledge like using Ctrl+K to insert a link to the bold truths that big things can happen from anywhere, learning can happen from anywhere and connections and mentorships can flourish from anywhere. The only prerequisites are a proper community of support (in person or virtual) and an adaptable mindset.

Last year, I believed the pandemic was robbing me of opportunity. Today, I realize it gave me one: an unforgettable first full-time internship that otherwise may not have crossed my path.

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