Erika Blanchard '27 on Taking 'Time Out' for Internships

In the first semester of her junior year, Blanchard has doubled down on the value of internships to prepare for her future. Right on Emmanuel’s doorstep in the Fenway neighborhood, Blanchard is working as a Marketing Intern for Time Out Market, a curated food hall that brings together some of a city’s best restaurants it has to offer. 

Blanchard had to go out of her way to land the role – her second internship during her time at Emmanuel – especially since it wasn’t an advertised position! Knowing that she wanted to work behind the scenes at Time Out, she went to the team and pitched the role for herself.

“You have to have the confidence to take advantage of all the opportunities that Boston has to offer,” she said, “and when you’re in interviews, don’t hide – show who you are,” she said.

As a marketing major, Blanchard was seeking out an opportunity to work for a modern media company with a unique approach. By tapping into a local internship that she found in Boston, she’s getting experience at a company with global reach (Time Out has locations in New York, Barcelona, Budapest and more).

This fall, she’s fulfilled a range of responsibilities that are valuable for any aspiring marketer: hosting local events, assisting with social media, doing behind-the-scenes website work and mastering event management software. 

Having prior internship experience helped put her into a position where she felt confident and prepared enough not only to propose her own internship, but market herself and seize the opportunity she’d created.

In summer 2024, Blanchard worked as an intern for the Fenway Community Center (FCC) as part of the College’s Professional Pathways Program – an offering from the Leslie Ferrick McCafferty Career Center that connects students with a local internship and an opportunity to live on campus over the summer.

With FCC, Blanchard gained real-world work experience in a non-profit environment as a sophomore, which allowed her to hone her professional skills and visualize all the different pathways she can pursue in her career.

“It’s an example of how an opportunity doesn’t have to be exactly what you are looking for so early on – it’s about branching out and the growth you get from it,” Blanchard said.

In Blanchard’s case, FCC was a primer that positioned her to fully thrive in a future opportunity – her current role at Time Out market – and dive into a position more tailored to her major and future goals. As someone who will always be working with people, the more connections she could make, and the more she could learn from people along the way.

Here are Blanchard’s top five takeaways that she’s gained from her work experience so far:

• Engage in life-long networking
• Hustle and always go above and beyond
• Know your strengths
• Ask questions
• Advocate for yourself

Blanchard wants to encourage other students to gather as much experience as they can while they’re undergraduates – and emphasize the people they meet and professional progress they can make along the way.

“Sometimes these days it’s not even about what’s on your resume, it’s about who you know. And in my experiences, I’ve had so many people say ‘reach out to me when you’re done with your internship.’ Those are connections I can always lean on,” Blanchard said.