One of the many benefits of studying at Loughborough is the opportunities that come with it. A prime example is the ability to take a placement year and receive an extra qualification as a result (Diploma in Professional Studies). 

Hi! My name is Gemma, and I’m the current Alumni Engagement Intern at Loughborough University. As I write this, I am celebrating my 8-month anniversary of being on my placement, with just 4 months left to go before going back to my BSc. Retailing, Marketing and Management degree.  

Today, I will take you through a typical day in my life as an intern at Loughborough University. 

Rise and shine ☀️ 

After my alarm goes off in the morning, I take a little bit of time to scroll through social media, and the Gen-Z in me can’t help but scroll through TikTok for more time than I’d like to admit before getting up and ready for the day ahead.  

After a quick walk along Ashby Road in the sunshine, I arrive at the Hazlerigg building, ready for another day at work.  

The first time that I saw these huge buildings back in 2019 at my offer day, I never would have imagined that I would be working in one of these amazing historical buildings. Did you know that they used to be student accommodation? 

The first thing I do as I walk through the huge doors of Hazlerigg is to wish a good morning to Dipti and Jayne, our lovely receptionists and the first people you’ll see as you walk in. I then head through the halls to the Marketing and Advancement Office (after grabbing the first of many cups of coffee, of course 😎) and sit with my team. 

Headphones in 🎧 

After my daily morning tasks of checking the email inbox, answering queries from alumni, and scanning our social media for comments and messages, I pop in my headphones; today’s choices: the Heathers and SIX soundtracks, and get stuck into planning my tasks for today. 

My role revolves around the Loughborough University Alumni Association, the collective name for our 190,000k+ amazing alumni from every walk of life that you can imagine. From the University Chancellor Seb Coe, Olympian Paula Radcliffe, to our most recent graduates, my team handle everything surrounding the alumni of Loughborough University. 

There is no typical day with my role, one day I could be writing news stories and answering enquiries from alumni, the next I could be attending a huge event with some of our most prestigious alumni. While I am super excited for the Alumni Reunion Weekend taking place soon, my favourite event so far has been a guest talk from Sky Sports News presenter and alumnus Mike Wedderburn for the Universities’ Voices of Diversity Series. 

Today, I have a few news stories to write, mainly looking at the various successes of the Universities’ alumni. In my role, I have had the opportunity to speak to and write news stories about some amazing people and their achievements including Olympians, Eco-adventurers, award-winning entrepreneurs, and my personal fangirl moment just a week into my placement, speaking with the director of RuPaul’s Drag Race who had just won his second Emmy award. 

Database and dissertation 💻 

After a bubble tea from LSU for lunch, I head back into Hazlerigg to check the email inbox and get onto my next task for today, database work following the alumni newsletter. Each month, I plan, write, and code the alumni newsletter which gets sent to approximately 80k Loughborough alumni. After this gets sent out, we usually receive quite a lot of correspondence from alumni which need to be responded to and logged, along with detail changes and unsubscribes.  

Today, I have some time left over, so it is time to do a little dissertation research. As part of the Diploma in Professional Studies (DPS) qualification, I am currently in the process of writing my placement dissertation. With my team being heavily focussed on volunteering and events for alumni, I am analysing the impact of COVID-19 on Alumni Engagement for my dissertation. I take out a few hours each week to do additional research for this project, whether this be analysing reports from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) or looking through historical data from my team (KPI’s etc.). So, as I am wrapping up and preparing to go home, I am re-watching and taking notes from an Alumni Engagement summit that I attended online a few months ago. 

Heading home 🎮 

By undertaking my placement in Loughborough, I have been fortunate enough to continue being a part of the Welfare and Diversity section at LSU, definitely a massive perk of working at the University. So, after finishing work today, I will head home to have tea then head back out to my committee meeting, and finally back home to chill out, enjoy a bit of gaming or dissertation work, then hit the hay ready for another day. 

If you love working with data, helping with events, and getting to meet many extraordinary and interesting alumni, why not look into applying to become next year’s Alumni Engagement Intern? I have such an amazing experience and learned so much in this role that I can take into my final year and beyond.