Lizzie Balacanta '23 has just one regret about her summer internship. She wishes she taken the time to actually explore Atlanta. Lizzie interned in the corporate communications office for Delta, based out of Atlanta. She spent the summer in the city, but she never actually went into the city. She was too busy exploring the world.
"We flew to California a couple of times and New York a couple of times. I visited Florida, Nashville, Italy, Spain."
One of the perks of interning with (or working for) Delta? All the free flights you can handle. Lizzie and her roommates (college interns working in other departments) would leave the Delta offices at the end of their workday on Friday and head straight to the airport. They'd pick their destination, and sometimes take the red eye over the Atlantic. They'd spend one day exploring (Barcelona, for example), and then fly home the next day in time for work on Monday. Oh, and her parents and one designated buddy get unlimited free flights as well.
"When I wasn't working, I was probably only in Atlanta 10 percent of the time."
The perks are outrageous, but the work was also life-changing. Lizzie is a communications major and had considered a career in journalism, but she fell hard for internal and corporate communications. Lizzie wrote feel-good stories for the airline's internal website and newsletter, including a piece about Delta stepping up to save a baby cheetah by flying him from Oregon to Cincinnati for a life-saving surgery.
Lizzie also co-hosted a live-streamed event unveiling the Atlanta Braves new, branded Delta jet (above). She interviewed the CEO of Delta (a company of more than 100,000 people) and members of the Braves.
"I was able to use skills I learned during my reporting class during the event. I remembered the three Cs. I thought about being clear, concise, and conversational in my delivery!"
Most interns ended their relationship at the end of the summer, but Lizzie was offered the opportunity to extend her time, remotely, through the fall. She's also been offered a job, if she wants it, when she graduates. So, yes, free flights throughout the fall!
