Week 5 marked the start of my internship for Elizabeth Arden. I have absolutely loved my experience so far! I am doing marketing for the Elizabeth Arden brand in their makeup and skincare sectors. My main role this summer will be to conduct competitive analysis on EA competitors in specifically foundation and moisturizer. This week I analyzed social media campaigns, evaluated digital platform tools, and conducted in-store research. The team has been very supportive and I have loved the culture of a young, modern office with a femme spirit. My commute also is pretty easy – just a 20 minute ride on a double-decker.
The weekend brought a train ride to Scotland! We stayed in Edinburgh where we enjoyed the simple-life. During a hop-on-hop-off bus tour we heard the story of the beloved Greyfriars Bobby, a dog who visited his owner’s grave stone each night after his death, showing the loyalty of a man’s best friend. We later rubbed his life-sized statue’s nose for good luck. We also saw the cafe where J. K. Rowling drafting the Harry Potter novels, which was cool because I am a huge fan! The air felt much fresher than in London, especially atop Arthur’s Seat. We hiked up this dormant volcano that overlooked the city to soak in the views. The Edinburgh Castle dominates the skyline. Edinburgh is a much smaller city than London as well, so we were able to get around to see a lot of it in a day.
Our second day we took a coach tour to the highlands and the Loch Ness. The highlands provided amazing greenery and mountainous landscape that towered into the clouds. The large highland cows were majestic animals in themselves! Our tour guide told us that sheep outnumber people in Scotland 4:1. It would be amazing to go camping and hiking in this landscape one day. At Loch Ness, we explored Urquhart Castle before embarking on a boat cruise to try and find Nessie. She was sleeping that day. Upon our arrival home we tried a Scottish dish called haggis which is sheep’s liver and heart. It was surprisingly tasty!
It was interesting to see the contrast between two countries within the UK. Our tour guide said that public sentiment is that Scotland will declare independence from the UK within the next two generations. I was not surprised to hear this. Post-Brexit, Scotland is worried about losing the benefits of being in the EU. They also have had historical conflict with England, and even rooted against them in the World Cup! The culture is much more relaxed and less refined in Scotland, as well. No one takes themselves too seriously. Overall, it was a hectic but breathtakingly beautiful weekend trip.
Grace Guertin ’19
Student, UConn School of Business
Grace Guertin is a rising senior majoring in Management and minoring in Digital Marketing and Analytics. She is currently enrolled in the UConn Business in London, England Summer Classes/Internship hybrid program until mid-August. Grace is taking classes in Business Law and Human Rights as well as completing an academic internship for Elizabeth Arden’s fragrance marketing department while there. She is excited to meet new people, live in a big city, work for a beauty company, and travel around Europe. A fun fact about Grace is that her first time out of the country is for this trip! On campus, she is involved in her sorority Gamma Phi Beta as the Community Service Chairwoman and is active in the Honors Program. View Posts