Check out these OU students’ internship experiences

INFOGRAPHIC EXPERIENCE(S)

requiredBY ADDIE HEDGES | PHOTOS BY ZACHARY DEPIORE, ABIGALE BLASHINSKY, NINA BURCHFIELD AND RACHEL CALVIS DESIGN BY JULIA GREENWOOD Four Ohio University students share their internship experiences.

MAY 2021 GRADUATE MAJOR: MEDIA ARTS AND STUDIES INTERNSHIP: KEY TALENT MANAGEMENT, LOS ANGELES

Key Talent Management, or KTM, is a talent agency with locations in Los Angeles and New York City. KTM works with aspiring actors, directors, writers, musicians and influencers. DePiore was able to help the company’s clients find auditions that he and his supervisors felt would best fit their skill set.

“It was so ... important for me to see the business side [and] how the business actually operates, how people actually get connections and get jobs, and I think a talent agency is really good for that,” DePiore says. “It’s a really good starting point for learning the businessoriented aspect of the creative profession.” ZACHARY DEPIORE

ABIGALE BLASHINSKY YEAR: THIRD-YEAR SENIOR MAJOR: JOURNALISM STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS INTERNSHIP: MISS UNIVERSE ORGANIZATION

Blashinsky was selected as one of two OU students to intern with the Miss Universe Organization in New York City after her sophomore year. She was responsible for handling PR and social media. “I was able to be a part of the 70th Miss Universe Competition,” Blashinsky says.

“We went to Eilat, Israel, and it was incredible. Another thing that I was really happy to be a part of [was] the 70th Miss Universe [which was] called the Green Miss Universe because [the organization is] trying to make it as sustainable as possible. [It] was really great to be ... a part of that community where we all have the same mindset.”

Many students enter college with passion and purpose; others enjoy exploring their interests before committing to just one option. Regardless of major or future career plans, many strive to land the perfect internship to refine their skills, impress future employers and discover new career opportunities. As these students approach graduation, employers are tasked with identifying what sets them apart and an impressive internship can be helpful in doing just that. Backdrop talked with a few Ohio University students who received internships that make their resumes shine.

The Borgen Project is a nonprofit organization that aims to eradicate global poverty through legislative affairs. The organization believes American leaders should make poverty a focal point of U.S. foreign policy.

“I started off as a PR and marketing intern for three or four months or so and ... then [I] came back during the summer to work a sixmonth internship with them and I got a promotion as a regional director,” Calvis says.” I was doing a lot of the PR marketing that I was doing with my initial internship, but as a regional director, I held more of a leadership position and [had] a lot of responsibilities when it came to lobbying my specific congressional leaders.” NINA BURCHFIELD YEAR: JUNIOR MAJOR: SPECIAL EDUCATION, MODERATE TO INTENSE INTERNSHIP: TEACHING PLACEMENT AT GUIDING HAND SCHOOL, GRADES K-3

The Guiding Hand School offers special education programming for students from ages 6 to 21. Students learn academic concepts and life skills and participate in extracurricular activities like music, art and gym.

“I’ve gained a lot of knowledge [about] the social-emotional aspect [in teaching] because kids, in general, can’t really understand emotions, but these kids specifically have [a much] harder time,” Burchfield says. “[I have gained a lot by] seeing different ways to teach what the emotions mean and just how they can apply them in their everyday [lives].”

YEAR: SENIOR MAJOR: STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS MINOR: MARKETING, AND POLITICAL COMMUNICATION INTERNSHIP: THE BORGEN PROJECT

RACHEL CALVIS