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Many NSU students are required to complete an internship before graduating. An internship is simply a temporary job where students can gain valuable work experience. There are many ways to go about getting an internship. Many students prefer to apply for internships close to home so they are able to remain enrolled in classes while fulfilling the requirements of the internship as well.
Jennifer Pape, NSU alumna, decided to apply for two internships that were located in Tahlequah. She completed an internship at The Northeastern and Nexxlinx, a communications company. Her basic responsibilities for each internship were observing leadership qualities, writing a weekly paper about her duties and observations, and learning the atmosphere of two major mass media outlets: news media and communications media.
Pape was already an employee of Nexxlinx while doing her internship so she was responsible for fulfilling all the internship requirements as well as completing her normal responsibilities. Since graduating, Pape has been promoted to client services manager at Nexxlinx. She is the liaison between Nexxlinx and various companies. Pape believes that both internships helped her get to where she is today.
“Interning at The Northeastern I was able to see the various positions and all the hard work that goes into a weekly paper. My internship at Nexxlinx gave me the opportunity to learn more about the business and revenue side as opposed to just viewing it as an entry level employee,” said Pape.
Jennifer Pape sits at her desk at Nexxlinx.
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Although many NSU students choose internships close to home, there are a few students who have had to relocate to a different city or even a different country in order to get their internship credits.
Kristen Lucas, NSU alumna, knew that when she began searching for an internship that she did not want anything local. She applied for many different internships before being accepted as a Spike TV production management intern. Spike TV is a network of MTV.
Lucas, who is from a small town, was required to relocate to New York City. As a Spike TV intern, Lucas is required to do a number of things ranging from basic office duties to coming up with show ideas. She has also been able to go to a few shoots. To complete the internship, Lucas is working 20 hours a week, which is two full days and one half day. Her internship at Spike TV is unpaid. Lucas is optimistic that doing the Spike TV internship and moving to New York City will help her to achieve her career goals for the future.
“It has been a challenge and the financial situation is quite strained, but I have high hopes that it'll be worth it somewhere down the line,” said Lucas.
Sarah Turner, Tahlequah senior, was accepted into an internship program located in Ireland. She was able to go experience a completely different culture, while receiving hands-on experience. Turner did not apply for any other internships because she thought it would be exciting to study abroad. The internship program was based in Armagh, Ireland and consisted of making an online magazine in four weeks. Each intern was expected to write a story, take photographs for a story, film a video for a story and design a Web site for a story. Each of the elements that Turner had to complete was for a different story. The magazine was focused on Armagh and after its completion the local residents were happy with how the magazine represented their city.
“I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to complete this internship. It taught me a lot about video and photography, and it is definitely something I want to put on my résumé,” said Turner.
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Photo by Lynsie Clark |
