Luther College senior Gilson interns at Hormel Foods Corp.

Chase Gilson, Luther College senior, spent his summer interning at Hormel Foods Corp. in Austin, Minnesota, where he worked on several projects related to brand recognition, product development and process documentation.

Gilson, the son of Sean and Jill Gilson of Adams, Minnesota, graduated from the Southland Senior High in 2015. He is majoring in management at Luther.

Gilson, looking back at his internship reflected, "Something new that I learned about myself is that I have the ability to organize and push a project through to completion. Keeping in mind deadlines with no extensions, I learned how to keep myself motivated and to prioritize tasks."

Gilson's tasks while at Hormel included projects related to brand recognition, product development and much more. For one project, he took the lead to compile product information for the registration of new products for the State of Louisiana's Department of Health & Hospitals. For this, he gathered information through the company's Brand Development and Regulation Database and developed package designs along with product samples.

"By having this opportunity with Hormel Foods, I was able to network and connect with many people in the organization and learn about how they got to where they were. Through these contacts and networking opportunities, I was able to share my story and my abilities with them," Gilson said. He is proud to have completed his second year as an intern at Hormel Foods Corp.

Approximately 10 percent of Luther students take an internship for academic credit each academic year. The Luther College Career Center assists students with their internship search through resume preparation, networking, online internship searches, career fairs, on-campus interviewing, and connecting the student to alumni through the college's Alumni Internship Program. Students also meet with a faculty adviser prior to the internship to create an internship learning plan that includes learning goals and assessment benchmarks. An internship work supervisor assists in the process by writing an evaluation of the student at the end of the internship. Students also complete a self-reflection form to help finalize the learning experience.