In the summer of 2022, Granger Waste Services had the pleasure of hosting two summer interns. These interns, while doing extremely different jobs, both proved very beneficial to their departments, as well as learning some new skills and gaining valuable work experience along the way.
Kelsey Hedman, who will soon be starting her senior year at Michigan State University in food industry management, joined Granger at the end of May. In Kelsey’s role as social media and marketing intern, she provided outstanding support for the Marketing Department by helping plan and work at various internal and external events, as well as assisting with coordinating sponsorships. Additionally, she filmed and edited videos, worked on a large project involving research and editorial planning for social media; created social media posts and photographed numerous company events and activities.
Kelsey had this to say about her experience: “Interning at Granger Waste Services has been a fulfilling and rewarding experience in many ways. The marketing team at Granger Waste Services warmly welcomed me and brought me in to help assist on informative projects, run memorable events and shadow their day-to-day operations and activities. They gave me opportunities to apply what I had learned these last three months and boosted my confidence along the way. I am very thankful to have been given this opportunity and I feel the knowledge I have gained has prepared me for my post-college career.”
Director of Marketing and Public Relations John Zimmerman commented on what Kelsey added to his team: “Kelsey has been a great addition. During her time here, she has worked on multiple projects and has approached each new task with enthusiasm, care and the commitment to do her best.”
Madison Pritchett, who is starting her senior year in the engineering program at Michigan State University, spent the summer in Granger’s Engineering Department. She worked on several projects in her time at Granger, with the largest being designing a model to predict concentrations of the liquid component in the landfill over time. In addition, Madison worked on stormwater and construction projects, including the widening of a private road at one of Granger’s locations.
Madison had this to say about her experience: “I am so glad to have had the opportunity to intern at Granger this summer. From my first day, everyone has gone out of their way to make me feel like part of the team, whether it be driving me around the landfill or showing me the secret candy stash. I truly enjoyed my time spent with everyone I had the chance to work with.
“Granger exceeded my expectations for what an internship would be. I always felt like the work I was doing was truly helpful. I was given a lot of trust, but did not feel pressured to know everything. I asked a ton of questions, but they were consistently received with patience and even enthusiasm. For this, I am grateful to Tim and the entire engineering team, but especially Serenity!
In my short time at Granger, I learned to communicate in a professional environment, to work effectively in a team, to problem solve and to have more confidence in my abilities and ideas. I was also given the opportunity to learn the basics of AutoCAD Civil 3D. Even though it was a bit of a struggle, it was one of my favorite things that I did!
Overall, my first internship experience was amazing. Thank you, Granger!”
Director of Engineering Tim Krause had a lot of appreciation for having Madison in the Engineering Department over the summer. He said, “Madison has been great. She has fit in well with our team from the beginning. She catches on fast and has been able to handle anything we have thrown at her with relative ease. Her presence will be missed, but we wish her the best in her bright future ahead.”
At the end of the summer, both interns did a short presentation for Granger leadership and members of their departments to showcase what they had done and learned.