This semester has been quite a unique one for me. I began the last half of my senior year working in Indianapolis at Burkhart Marketing and then something unexpected happened right in the middle of it – COVID-19. I am fairly positive that many, myself included, did not see this coming. This new world of being confined inside for most of my days was at first incredibly daunting. And the thought of not being able to physically go into the office made me rather melancholy. I couldn’t say hi to my coworkers or say hello to Yadi, our office dog. The environment there always made me feel productive, but I buckled down in my classes and in my role at Burkhart while at home. I couldn’t let this get in the way of my ambitions. 

Getting Used to Working from Home

I have had experience with online learning before, so I know that it can take a lot of discipline to get work completed at home. So, I came up with a plan before returning to work after spring break. I moved my desk in the living room, so I wouldn’t feel cooped up in my little square bedroom. I bought living plants to decorate my apartment with because I knew if I couldn’t go outside that much, then I would need to bring a little of the outside indoors. And then I bought a huge jug of ground coffee. So, when the time came to begin work for school and Burkhart again, I felt comfortable and ready. 

Brushing Up on New & Old Skills

Since that time in March, I have written about so many topics for the website. Blogging is something I have come to enjoy and learning how to utilize WordPress and HootSuite has been a great addition to my knowledge base. Creating blogs specifically based on design and digital marketing has improved my memory on a lot of subjects I have since spaced on.

Working from home has given me more time with my dog Nala, too, and I know that she enjoys the extra time she gets with me. However, I was worried that communication for getting tasks done would suffer since I was at home, but that thankfully and surprisingly didn’t happen.

One great quality that comes from working at Burkhart is that your coworkers are amazing at communicating with you. Quarantining ourselves just solidified my appreciation of that. When they hear you out and get back to you in a timely manner while being at home, that just shows how dedicated they are to the business and their relationships. I have prior experience that not every company you work for has developed that kind of mentality. They work as a true team and it’s something I would like to implement in my future endeavors.