When I was younger, I always knew I was different from other children. No, it wasn’t because I was adopted from Korea, nor was it due to my excessive reading. Rather, it was because I was excellent at lying. All my other friends tried to lie and were caught in the process, but not I.
I knew the correct amount of eye contact, the earnest tone of voice and the innocent smile that were all part of the “perfect lie formula.” These lies weren’t your average that-shirt-looks-great-but-actually-doesn’t lie. I told my friends of exotic trips I took to England and Ecuador. I shared stories about how my father was a secret FBI agent and worked undercover. I even told my first grade teacher that I never had a sandwich and convinced her that I truly thought it was a witch made out of sand.
However, I soon realized that nobody likes a liar. It took losing my best friend, frustrating my favorite teacher and annoying my family to their wits’ end to make me change my ways. In fifth grade, I took charge of my life and started telling the truth: an act that has changed my life forever.
Thus, when I arrived to Grand Valley State University in the fall of 2010, I was fascinated to learn there was a career path I could take that you actually get paid for telling the truth: Public Relations.
So here I am three years later, a public relations intern in the Amway Corporate PR department tasked with sharing an intern’s view of Amway. Throughout the summer: I will introduce you to interns from various departments, I’ll bring you to events and activities and together we’ll explore behind the scenes of the largest and most successful direct selling company in the world.
My name is Austin; I am from Grand Haven; I enjoy waterskiing, pie eating and afternoon naps; and I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Written by Austin Langlois
About Austin:
Austin graduates from Grand Valley State University in December with a BA in Advertising/Public Relations and a minor in Spanish. Before coming to Amway, he interned at Hello West Michigan; Experience Grand Rapids; The Chamber of Commerce Grand Haven, Spring Lake and Ferrysburg; Grand Valley State University and assisted on the TEDxGrandRapids communications team. You can find him on Twitter, LinkedIn or at his personal website.