Autumn Heddleston ’22 (Belpre, Ohio) is continuing a positive trend of Marietta College students earning a prestigious Vance and Betty Lee Stickell Internship.
Heddleston, who will intern with Caterpillar’s Oil & Gas division this summer, is the fourth Marietta College student in the past eight years to earn the honor. Other Marietta recipients of the Stickell Internship are Charlee Ottersberg ’15, Mandee Young ’18 and Hannah Garaofalo ’21.
“I was a little surprised because I had recently received an email from the coordinator of the program that said due to COVID-19 restrictions, it didn’t look like many internships would be offered,” Heddleston said. “About 48 hours later I found out I got the internship.”
While she had hoped to work in Texas, the internship is going to be remote. Heddleston will be working on marketing and website design for the company starting in May.
“It’s a great company to work for and I have talked to a lot of people who have worked for Caterpillar,” said Heddleston, who is majoring in Marketing and is also working on minors in Management and Advertising & Public Relations. “There are about 30 interns this summer and the coordinator said we will meet virtually every week, so I am confident this will be a valuable experience.”
She has already been told that she will be working on a project and will get the chance to present her work at the end of the internship.
“I will present to the C-Suite of Caterpillar,” she said. “I’m a little nervous about it right now, but I’m confident I’ll be ready when it’s time to make the presentation.”
The Stickell Internship Program, sponsored by the American Advertising Federation, matches students interested in advertising careers with summer internship positions throughout the United States.
Lori Smith, Assistant Professor and Chair of the Communications Department, nominated Heddleston for the internship.
“Autumn exhibits extreme drive and insightfulness,” Smith said. “She is always willing to learn and very capable of looking at several viewpoints. She is an outstanding scholar and is involved in numerous campus activities, often in a leadership role.”
Since she can live anywhere during the internship, Heddleston is considering a summer move to Las Vegas, Nevada, with a friend. There she can also explore another passion — dancing.
“I danced professionally for three years before coming back to college,” said Heddleston, who teaches dance at the Performing Arts Connection and Education dance studio in Parkersburg, West Virginia. “I have a friend in Vegas who I can live with and I can try to do dancing on the side.”