Belmont public relations senior Lucy Walsh is currently completing a unique internship as the communications intern in the Office of Mayor John Cooper of Nashville, Tennessee. In the mayor’s office, she has been given an opportunity to become more familiar with the city of Nashville and the resources available to the neighbors that need them.
With significant events in Nashville taking place this past year, Walsh has had the opportunity to assist in uniting the city. This semester she worked on the COVID-19 flag memorial project when Davidson County announced 500 deaths in January and helped with the tornado anniversary walk that commemorates the tornado that devastated much of Nashville on March 3, 2020. Throughout the course of her internship, she has also gained skills and experience in reading social media analytics and writing press documents.
Currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in the public relations department with a minor in publishing, Walsh has been involved in a number of different organizations on campus that have helped her land her current internship. PRSSA, Belmont’s student-run PR firm Tower Creative and her senior PR capstone project all have been influential in her academic and professional career. She also is holding another virtual internship with the public relations department at Belmont where she runs the PR at Belmont blog and all social media channels.
“The PR department has been so instrumental in my success, and I have felt so unbelievably valued by them since my first visit on campus as a high school student in 2016,” Walsh said. She shared that her experience in the Belmont East program, a study program in New York City, during the Spring 2020 semester presented her with opportunities and mentors that “have really inspired me to think about the type of life I want, the people I want to surround myself with and the work I want to do.”
Walsh shared that her internship with the Mayor’s office has allowed her to embrace Nashville as a long-term home as opposed to a campus community. Walsh is set to graduate this spring and is then moving onto Vanderbilt’s Master of Marketing program in the Owen School of Management.