Junelle King helped take care of animals boarded at Pet Playhouse and Kennels in Brooktondale, NY, as a part-time job after school and during the summer for two years.

But the Ithaca native was interested in learning more about running the business and took advantage her first Field Period to do just that.

“I wanted to work in the office and interact with the customers,” said King, an organizational communication major who is considering starting a business of her own one day, or working for a not-for-profit.

“I volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, Tompkins County ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), and now the Yates County Humane Society,” said King. “Helping people and animals is important to me.”

During the January internship, King was responsible for answering the telephone and scheduling pet stays at the kennel—which also offers “doggie daycare”—utilizing Microsoft Excel. She also took customer information from the filing cabinet and made electronic files for each.

She also helped the owner enact a new policy—a late fee for double and triple offenders, after an initial warning.

“Once I started interacting with the customers, I noticed that many of them were calling to say they wouldn’t be able to get there until after we closed at 5:30 p.m.,” said King. “So, we thought a late policy might help them to be more on time.”

King plans to work at Pet Playhouse and Kennels again this summer.

“I learned a lot about organization and staying organized as well as customer service,” said King, who also used QuickBooks for the first time for handling customer transactions.

-- Tanya Cornell-Kestler