Company Name: WUSA Channel 9, Local News, a CBS affiliate
City: Washington DC
Paid/Unpaid/Course Credit: For Course Credit
Steps to get the internship: I applied online and had a phone interview.
Day to day activities: Press releases, analyzing ratings and composing daily reports on how last nights news cast did in comparison to our competitors, attending news meetings, helping produce weather alerts, proofs, and promos, writing brief scripts for weather alerts, proofs and promos, organizational tasks and getting lunch
Most rewarding: I loved living in D.C. and being able to go out with reporters for filming.
Biggest challenge: When there was nothing to do at work it was a bit boring, and being far away from home was difficult sometimes.
Most important thing learned: I learned to be patient and polite, listen to everything, write down everything, ask for a letter of recommendation, network, make connections, and pay attention to details.
Key advice: Don't expect it to be glamorous, but do expect it to be worth it.
Hannah Maine
Major: English
Company Name: Covenant Healthcare
City: Saginaw, MI
Paid/Unpaid/Course Credit: For Course Credit
Steps to get the internship: My mother worked for the company in a different department so I had a connection.
Day-to-day activities: I attended meetings, wrote public releases, wrote articles, edited content, and created advertising copy.
Most rewarding: I loved the people that I worked with and the advice and the things I have learned from them.
Biggest challenge: It was hard getting the most out of my internship by putting in a large amount of work, but when I did it was really rewarding.
Most important thing learned: It's important to put in the effort because you will get out more education from an internship this way.
Key advice: Be optimistic. Even if you aren't happy about where you are, this will help you get to where you want to go.
Amanda Bokshan
Major: Sport Management
Company Name: USA Hockey NTDP
City: Ann Arbor, MI
Paid/Unpaid/Course Credit: For Course Credit
Steps to get the internship: I emailed the director of marketing and media communications.
Day to day activities: I held office hours and had game night responsibilities, which included taking official USHL stats (shots on goal, goals, assists, penalty minutes, etc.), recording the shot chart, playing music, delivering information to coaches and referees, and other odd jobs.
Most rewarding: I loved learning about the game of hockey and being involved with such an influential organization. My bosses and co-workers also made the internship a fun environment.
Biggest challenge:
The fast-paced environment was difficult to adjust to. Every action is very time sensitive.
Most important thing learned: It is very important to enjoy what you do!
Key advice: Don't settle for something that is not related to what you want to do.
Rebekah Ross
Major: History
Company Name: Little Traverse History Museum
City: Petoskey, MI
Paid/Unpaid/Course Credit: For Course Credit
Steps to get the internship: I emailed the director of the museum with my resume and cover letter, and then had a phone interview.
Day-to-day activities: I sorted through old maps (from 10 to 160 years old), old postcards (most were about 100 years old), old print publications about northern Michigan (about 80-50 years old) and created an archival system and catalog for the maps, postcards and publications in the museum collection. I also made a finders' list for researchers to find the material that we had available at the museum.
Most rewarding: Being able to have a hands-on experience with items in a museum collection was very rewarding, especially when I found our copies of the first survey map ever made of Emmett/Charlevoix/Cheboygan county by John Mullett from the 1840s (Mullett Lake is named after him).
Biggest challenge: It was tough to remind myself that the class credit I was getting for the course was worth doing the work, because I wasn't being paid for the 130 hours I put in over the summer.
Most important thing learned: It's very important to communicate with your supervisor if you don't understand what they want before you make a mistake. Also, being able to work autonomously is extremely helpful in a museum environment.
Key advice: Do it! But make sure you know what you want to get out of it. I did my internship because I needed an internship for my Museum Studies minor and because I wanted to see if I really liked museum work. I also knew I'd be able to have a lot of hands-on experience working with real artifacts because it was such a small museum, so make sure you will actually be doing what you want to know, not just some side projects or busywork for interns that the people you're working for want you to do.