OU students snag top summer internships

When school wound down in June, some Bobcats' careers were just heating up as they pounced on some prime internship opportunities across the country.Jeff Kolada, a senior video production major and film minor, is working with Miss Universe for a six-month media internship that will carry over through fall quarter.

Kolada said he was drawn to the internship because it "gives a lot of responsibility and creative freedom, and we get to travel around the world doing documentary work."

But he admitted "the beautiful women" might have played a role in his decision to take this internship over another he had been offered in Las Vegas.

Kolada said his job responsibilities are "enormous," and that only three people were present on his first two trips, to China and Michigan: Miss USA Rima Fakih, her travel manager and Kolada.

"I was put in a position where it was now my job to create the story, shoot the video, record the sound, etc. I also shot photographs for the Miss Universe website and Facebook pages," Kolada said. "We produce a majority of the videos posted on the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA websites, as well as graphics and promos."

Kolada said part of the job is just being a "travel friend," and that he has become good friends with Fakih.

Another perk of the job is attending lavish events, such as a party in China where Harry Connick Jr., Madeleine Albright, and many White House staff were present. He also said he's met record executives, billionaire business people (although not Donald Trump, as of this interview), and top fashion designers and entertainment personalities.

"Party cups of beer turned into crystal glasses of champagne," he said.

Beyond allowing him to mingle with the rich and famous, the internship has helped him discover new career possibilities.

"What is interesting is that my dreams and this internship have overlapped a bit. I've gotten the chance to shoot commercial spots for major companies like CHI and Farouk Hair Care, Kryolan Make-up, and obviously Miss Universe Organization," Kolada said. While he admitted these productions are not necessarily along his dream line of work, he noted, "they will be great pieces to add to my portfolio."

REBEKAH MEISER, A SENIOR MAGAZINE journalism major, interned in New York City at Lucky magazine, a Cond Nast publication. She found the internship through Ed2010, a site that lists hush-hush job opportunities ("Whisper Jobs") and the latest news in the magazine industry.

Although Meiser said she knew of internship opportunities in Cincinnati, she had her mind set on New York.

"I felt it was really important to be in the city where the industry is prominent and several magazines are located," she explained.

Meiser primarily worked in the accessories closet. "We organize. We sort. We pick up. We go to design shows," Meiser said in an interview in August, during her last week of work. Although she said the job was not closely related to her dream job editorial writing she said it was still a foot in the door.

"I feel the people I worked with directly and even the other interns I worked with had contacts that would definitely help with networking," Meiser said. "Networking was definitely something I accomplished this summer."

ANTHROPOLOGY MAJOR JACKIE Wurzelbacher completed a five-week-long paid internship at the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, working 40 hours a week giving museum tours and teaching specialized art classes.

Although she said the museum usually hires art education majors, Wurzelbacher's anthropology major was seen as an asset because of her cultural knowledge of art.

She added, "I thought working for a museum would be beneficial down the line."

She taught specialized art classes for various age groups, with the main focus being the types of photography and how they have evolved. The classes encouraged kids to take a new approach to photography.

"I went to parks and took kids around to give them another perspective of taking pictures," Wurzelbacher said.

Her mother, an art teacher in Cincinnati, mentioned the art museum as a potential internship after Wurzelbacher had been searching for a few months. She then checked out the website.

"It's a very small window of opportunity (for applying), so you have to get on often to see if they are accepting applications," Wurzelbacher recalled. "It's about a two- to three-week period.

"I would highly recommend it," Wurzelbacher said of the internship. "It's the best job I've ever had."

JUNIOR AMANDA STEFANIK IS WORKING for the online entertainment magazine The Celebrity Caf, based in Long Island, through the first week of school. She worked from home in Cleveland and communicated with staffers using instant message and e-mail. The magazine also uses a virtual newsroom.

Stefanik is responsible for 15 to 20 news briefs a week related to celebrities, music and movies. She scours Google News and any other news aggregators for story ideas. She also writes reviews.

As a broadcast journalism major, Stefanik had to adjust to working for an online publication.

"The hardest part for me is learning all the HTML language, but other than that, it's really similar to news writing. It's pretty different than broadcast, though," Stefanik said.

She added, "It really taught me how to work independently."

AIMEE RANCER, A SENIOR MAGAZINE journalism major, completed two internships in Chicago over the summer: one at a fashion freelance magazine called Chicago Flash, and another at an upscale boutique called Urban Style Emporium.

"These two (internships) intertwine with what I want to do: fashion journalism," said Rancer, who's originally from the Akron area.

For the magazine internship, Rancer covered events in Chicago, including a Segway tour, plays, a dance concert at Columbia College, and an event for the Chicago Fashion Foundation, where she got to meet someone from Armani, a top fashion house.

Rancer said she made many contacts this summer, including her boss at the boutique, who used to be a buyer at Macy's. She said these connections could help her find a job in the future.

"I feel it's a bit who you know rather than what you do... but obviously skill does matter!" Rancer said.

MARCUS YAM, A PHOTO INTERN at the New York Times over the summer, said he also made many crucial connections this summer.

"Internships are a great way to meet future mentors, people who see things in the same light you do," Marcus said. "I've met many many great people in the industry and have kept in touch with them."

Marcus, who just received his master's in photojournalism at OU, had had his eye on this prestigious internship for a while.

"I've applied for this internship three years in a row now, and it took me that long to be accepted," Yam said. "I've interned in other places too, small and large, and at the end of the day, the world of journalism has its pecking order. You have to pay your dues before jumping right in." (His other employers have been quite notable as well, including the Washington Post, Associated Press, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Concord Monitor, The Roanoke Times, and the Buffalo News.)

He worked mostly for the local news desk, but also utilized his keen eye for the real estate, culture and food departments.

"As a photographer, we're expected to visually report and describe the story with our eyes and cameras without the aid of the reporter," Marcus said. "If there isn't room for a long written story, the picture needs to say as much or more than the written story all in one frame or a few frames."

While he certainly gained professional experience, Marcus said he gained much more: "In each of these internships, I've gotten to figure out some of the existential questions like why I'm doing this, my purpose in life, and who I'm serving in this public service that one can never figure out unless he or she jumps right into the storm."