Below is a guest post from one of our Memphis-The Summer Experience participants, Sebrina Vaughn, a student at Clemson University who is interning in Memphis this summer at Cyber Graphics:

When I first arrived in Memphis to intern with Cyber Graphics two months ago, I had no idea what to expect. As a 22-year-old student enrolled at Clemson University in South Carolina, the only things that I really knew about the city were what I had seen in movies (namely Hustle and Flow) and heard in music. I was a tiny bit frightened to move here for three months.

At the beginning of June, I was informed by my boss about a summer program in Memphis for recent graduates and current interns called Memphis–The Summer Experience. On June 3, I went to my first event, a rooftop reception for Memphis interns where I networked with professionals in Memphis and connected with other students and interns in a city I knew nothing about. The most valuable thing I gained from the Leadership Academy were these networking opportunities.

“Through The Summer Experience, I found out about things like poetry nights, Karaoke, Saturdays on Beale, and Trolley Night, and I became familiar with the city’s variety of eclectic museums. I was able to connect with the real culture of Memphis. I am truly sad that I only have two weeks left in this city with such a rich history. Between the people at Cyber, and The Leadership Academy, Memphis–The Summer Experience, and my fellow interns, I was able not only to see the side of Memphis that tourists see but also what the city is like for a local. I can now say that the experience I had in Memphis was not what was portrayed in the movies or music. Memphis is definitely a place I would now come back to after I graduate.

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