University of Richmond Athletics
Summer Spider Series: Katie Cahill
06/13/2014 | Women's Lacrosse
The Richmond Spiders women's lacrosse team takes full advantage of resources that the University of Richmond provides during their summer months by studying or taking internships abroad, or staying in the U.S. to take classes and gain work experience. Throughout the next several weeks the squad will be sharing their summer adventures to let you know what they have been up to this summer.
This is the next in our Summer Spider Series detailing some of our Spiders' summer adventures. Follow these posts to learn more about a few Spiders and what they have been up to this summer!
For previous entries into the Summer Spider Series, click this link to our Series Page...
Rising senior defender Katie Cahill (Medford, N.J.), a Communications Major, landed a four-week internship with Harris Interactive in London, England this summer. Harris Interactive is a custom market research company. Katie is working specifically in the marketing and communications department, providing her with an excellent opportunity for valuable work experience in her major area of academic study. Anglo Educational Services is the University of Richmond's service provider in London, and has been placing UR students in internships in major financial, political, cultural and historic institutions for over 15 years, yet another amazing resource UR has to offer. Katie talks about her time in London in her own words below…
KC: Getting the opportunity to go abroad is something I always wanted from my college experience. However, playing a Division I sport was something I wanted more so going abroad during the school year was never an option. Then I learned about the opportunity to go abroad
during the summer, and better yet, that an internship abroad was a possibility! I immediately jumped at this opportunity. The program I am participating in for nine weeks this summer is through the Richmond School of Continuing studies. It's a really incredible program. The process consists of an application and an interview just like any other internship. Since I was going to be working in London, my interviews were conducted over the phone. I was lucky enough to get an interview with Harris Interactive UK. Harris Interactive is a custom market research company. We work with some of the best well-known brands in the world providing them with insight they need in order to make the best possible business decisions.
As an intern, I've been working specifically in the marketing and communications department. I have had the opportunity to attend meetings with public relations companies and video development companies. I've entered the company at a great time when many changes are under way. The Marketing department is hoping to revamp their image by developing a new website, making infographic videos, and more. Most recently, I wrote up my own press releases which were published in my name. I have also gotten much better at Photoshop, Excel, and other useful computer programs. Recently, I have been making infographics on my own that are sent out to all their clients! The most important thing I'm learning, however, is how a business works and that every single person is important in a company's success. It's so awesome to get so much hands-on experience and really apply everything that I've learned throughout my time at Richmond.
As if the internship wasn't good enough, I also get to live right in the heart of London. It's so fun taking the tube (London's underground) every day to work and living just like the locals do. Though Londoners speak English, there are still many cultural differences and I continue to learn how everything works. Through the program, I am required to take a class on the history of London 
once a week for two hours. I can hardly call it a class because my teacher takes us on walking tours and let us relive the history. I've also seen so many great sites such as Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London, Big Ben, The London Eye, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and many more! I have also had the opportunity to travel to places like Amsterdam and Lisbon, Portugal. In a few weeks I am meeting up with one of my fellow Spiders, Erin Geoghan, who is studying in Seville so we can travel around Spain together! I'm so very grateful for this opportunity and can tell that these experiences are helping me to mature. Living on my own, having a real job and further learning how to manage my time are just a few of the big changes going on here in London!
