Tracy Koenn ’18

Tracy had a number of career-enriching experiences at Lake Forest College. With having an internship at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier, tutoring at the College’s Writing Center, and working in the Office of Communications and Marketing, Tracy added a number of practical career skills to her resumé, including social media marketing, conducting Facebook Live interviews, and leading school tours. All that experience helped Tracy land a job before she graduated.

Q. What did you do in your Chicago Shakespeare Theater internship?

A. I worked in the theater’s education department and was responsible for arranging school visits to the Short Shakes! matinee program with teachers, leading part of the class tours, as well as recording, editing, and uploading post-show discussions onto the theater’s website. The experience taught me a lot about multitasking, prioritizing, working with others, office etiquette, and how to work as part of a team. 

Q. How did working as a Writing Center tutor help you prepare for a career?

A. I gained insight from the human connection. Every time I had a session with a student-client, it helped expand my knowledge and further developed my writing and critical-thinking skills.

Q. What experiences in the Office of Communications and Marketing did you have?

A. I did a lot of different things, from interviewing President Schutt for a Facebook Live post to helping with social media marketing, and interviewing a lot of students and faculty members to write about their interesting research, awards, and accomplishments.

Q. What is your current job?

A. I’m a merchandising coordinator at McMaster-Carr. I’m the preliminary step in the greater editorial process for revising the company’s website and catalog. To improve our taxonomy or product specifications, I provide metric and price comparison research to merchandisers and price developers.