Rocket ships and heat pumps: a summer internship ReVision Energy
This blog post was written by our summer marketing intern, Caroline Heyburn:
Caroline & her favorite heat pump
At a dinner party a few days ago, my grandparents asked how my summer internship was going with ReVision’s marketing team, and five minutes later my grandma had to cut me off by saying she was so happy that I think everyone should have a heat pump, but they really wanted to know more about my daily routine. It’s the last day of my ten week internship, and I’ve tried to write this blog post so many times but I can’t find the right words. I would like to express my gratitude to the teams with whom I have been able to work and how much I appreciate that they welcome me. I want to convince readers of the sincerity behind ReVision’s mission statement. I kind of want to summarize everything I learned in 500 words to make sure I don’t forget what it’s like to work for something you believe in. .
I first became interested in an internship at ReVision in 2018 during a high school project on the laws governing community solar farms. I called the Portland office and an employee-owner spent over an hour on the phone answering my questions. I think time is the greatest gift anyone can give, and Jen Hatch so graciously gave hers to me. Fast forward to 2022, the spring semester of my sophomore year at American University, and ReVision was at the top of my list for summer internships. I wanted to learn more about renewable energy, especially from a company that claimed make profit without sacrificing the environment. I major in international relations and Arabic with a minor in communications, so although marketing is not directly what I hope to do as a career, it has been a great opportunity to learn more about this industry in which I believe and I feel essential for the future of our planet.
Caroline answers solar questions at the Portland Sustainability Fair.
The truth is, I don’t have a normal daily routine. Every Tuesday we meet as a whole team, but the rest of the week is usually a series of intricately organized meetings, events, and projects. The part of my job I have enjoyed the most is attending events. You may have met me under the blue and orange pop-up tent. People are curious, sometimes skeptical, often excited, and those conversations taught me more about the importance of renewable energy than I will ever learn in a classroom.
At a farmer’s market on a hot day, a little girl came by asking for one of our Sunsquatch stickers. We started chatting and she told me she wanted to build a solar-powered rocket to clean up space junk. Of course, we had to start drawing the plan, and when I asked her how she chose solar panels as her power source, she said a wind turbine wouldn’t fit in a spaceship.
This summer, I learned that customer service goes far beyond the terms of a contract and responding to emails. At ReVision, customer service means managing communities and the environment; it means being transparent and reliable; it means giving of your time to everyone you meet, especially the little girls who build rockets.