The first time I visited Bravo Group, I was a 7-year-old elementary school student. My mom had just come to work here.
My first memory of the company is of a few people carrying boxes out of a small house near the Capitol. Then, the boxes were taken to a tall building where the seventh, eighth and ninth floors were the only places I was allowed to roam — because those were the only floors Bravo staff inhabited.
I was terrified to go up or down the metal spiral staircase. I remember getting candy from a curly-haired Jen Merchant — now a straight-haired Jen Riley — and never wanting to leave the cool ninth-floor sunroom.
Now 14 years later, I am an up-and-coming senior in college and I’m still terrified of the metal spiral staircase. In the last 14 years, I’ve watched the firm grow out of a small, downtown townhouse to a staff of nearly 60 employees in three offices across the state, working with key constituencies, media outlets and decision-makers to make a better society.
And in just 12 weeks the Second Street building became my work home. In those dozen weeks, I have grown from someone with an interest in public relations to an experienced and confident intern who understands PR and digital content much more. I am sad to leave but excited to take everything I’ve learned into the next chapter of my life.
At age 7, I could never have explained anything about Bravo other than that it was made up of people who gave me a big yellow button that read, “Hey, what about the kids?” Today, my communications and public relations internship with this leading advocacy and PR firm is coming to an end. I am sad it is over because of the professional experience I have received and because I have grown very fond of everyone.
Thanks to the out-of-my-comfort-zone experiences, the influential client work and, of course, the hardworking, inspiring, amazing people, I will be leaving my internship a smarter and more determined person.
In a way Bravo Group and I have grown up together, and I can’t wait to see how we both will flourish in the next 14 years.
To future interns, I congratulate you on the experience of a lifetime. I won’t even try to give you advice because I’m sure your internship will be a different experience from mine since Bravo never stops growing and adapting.
And if by some chance a roaming 7-year-old stumbles onto this blog, who knows, maybe someday you too will be sitting at a desk next to the people you have looked up to your whole life.
Sophia Fox || Harrisburg Public Relations and Communications Intern
