Purdue's 2008 Olympic interns: Back row, l to r: Phil Wrighthouse, Patrick Qi, Chad Husted, Chris Hetzner, Jason Myles, Leroy Bridges. Middle row, l to r: Lauren Harrington, Val Arias, Alysha Daytner, Traci Gilli, Professor Jane Natt. Front row, l to r: Kelsey Habig, Megan Jahrling, Andrea Thomas and Christina Harp.

By Kelsey Habig
Senior, PR

Undergraduates Megan Jahrling, Jason Myles and Andrea Thomas spent part of their summer elbowing journalists from The Associated Press, the British Broadcasting Corp. and Reuters news service.

They endured the sweltering heat in Beijing, China, with broadcast reporters from Canada and Great Britain in hopes of getting an interview with Chris Hoy, Britain's golden boy on a bicycle.

They even traded pins and transportation tips with representatives from the U.S. Olympic Committee after chatting with BMX cycling great Donny Robinson.

It was all just part of the job, that is, as a flash quote reporter at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games for the official Olympic News Service.

One participant remains involved with Team USA. Read her story

Jahrling, Myles and Thomas were part of a group of 14 Purdue students who, along with Assistant Professor Jane Natt, spent seven weeks in China this summer during the Beijing Olympics.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games hosted the group, which lived in the international student dormitory at the Communication University of China. Purdue was one of only eight U.S. universities chosen by BOCOG to send volunteers.

Most of the students worked for the Olympic News Service, a non-biased newswire service, as flash quote reporters. Four worked as photography assistants and helped photographers from various media organizations with their tasks.

The Laoshan Bicycle Cluster was home for many of the students, but some were assigned to volleyball and softball.

Natt was a volunteer for swimming, diving and synchronized swimming at the famous National Aquatic Center in Beijing, known to most at the "Water Cube."

For the students at Laoshan, it was their first ever exposure to the sport of cycling.

"I didn't know anything about cycling before this trip," said Jahrling. "We had to learn everything from YouTube videos and Internet tutorials."

The students covered track cycling, mountain biking and the Olympic debut of BMX cycling.
 
On the job
"I just loved being in the middle of all of the Olympic action," said Myles, a sophomore from West Lafayette. "It was such a rare experience that almost no one ever gets. I would sometimes just stop and say, ‘Wow, I am at the Olympics right now.'"

Members of the "blue army" walking back home

As flash quote reporters for the Olympic News Service, the students donned the same blue polo, gray pants, tennis shoes and vibrant yellow fanny pack as all of the Olympics games-time volunteers.

"We renamed the fanny packs as ‘hipsters,'" recalls Christina Harp, who graduated in May and now works in Chicago. "It felt more fashionable."

The students' main job was to gather flash quotes from athletes in the media mixed zone and the event press conference. If a journalist was not asking questions of a target athlete, the flash quote reporters had to jump in and do their own interviewing. Some also were able to write feature stories about athletes or events that ran on ONS before the games began.

"At first it made me physically sick to think about approaching the Olympians," said Jahrling, a senior from Chicago. "I was so nervous."

To help calm those nerves, students prepared tirelessly in the weeks leading up to the Games.

"Our ONS managers had us doing research on the key athletes and the different cycling events," said Myles. "We had practice runs several times a day for a week before the opening ceremony." In addition, students trained once a week with Professor Natt in the spring semester.

Quotes gathered by the students were entered in a database accessible in 55 languages by accredited media organizations across the world . The published deadline for mixed zone quotes was 10 minutes after the athlete spoke; press conference highlights were due after 20 minutes.

"I loved the quick pace and that there was always something exciting going on," said Jahrling. "You could never predict what would happen, what athletes would say or if they would even speak at all."

The students got a taste of real, live sports journalism. They battled their way through chaotic media scrums over the attention of Olympic medalists.

"The hardest part was hearing the athletes in the mixed zone," Myles said. "It was loud and crowded, and we had to fight for position with all the other journalists. But at the same time, it really kicked up your adrenaline."

International environment
In addition to the madness in the press areas, students also learned what it's like to work on an international level with colleagues from across the globe.

"It's so different to go and visit a foreign place versus living and working there," said Jahrling. "The hardest part was bridging the gap between how we work in America and how things work in China—and balancing that with all the international staff and athletes."

At the cycling venue, the students balanced the cultural and managerial differences of supervisors from the Netherlands, Great Britain, China, Switzerland and Australia. There were also student volunteers from Australia and many more from China.

Of course, there were also athletes, coaches and press personnel from each country represented by the International Olympic Committee.

"As someone who had never been outside of the U.S., it forced me to interact with people who are completely different from me," said Thomas, a senior from Lafayette. "It was a struggle sometimes to understand others, even when we were speaking the same language."

Educational experience
The experiences and lessons learned during their whirlwind time at the Olympic Games are not likely to be forgotten.

"You realize things can change at a moments notice and won't always go as anticipated," said Jahrling, who hopes to work in sports. "Instead of hitting the panic button, take a minute to reanalyze the situation, then attack it."

For some, it was a time of significant personal growth.

"I learned that there are multiple ways to solve problems and that it requires patience, understanding and the ability to adapt from all parties involved," said Thomas. "The job tested my limits and forced me to overcome a lot of my personal weaknesses. It took me out of my comfort zone and helped me grow as an individual."

They also emphasized the eye-opening experience of working on an international stage.

"Most people spoke English at work, but we had to really listen close to get used to people's accents," said Jahrling. "This was my second time abroad, but it felt like my first international experience."

Jahrling also talked about the need for taking initiative. She said there were times when an athlete was missed in the mixed zone or the press conference, and the other flash quote reporters had to jump in and help in the moment.

"Any job requires the ability to take initiative," she said. "In this case it was more about being aware of what was going on and recognizing when a situation needed attention. We couldn't wait for a manager to tell us what to do."

Myles made friends with many of the Chinese volunteers, who were able to help him in crisis situations.

"I made an effort to get to know a lot of people," said Myles, who is now enrolled in Chinese classes at Purdue. "It helped to learn about them and their culture, and then in crunch time, we worked together much easier because we understood each other."

Thomas noted that multicultural environment often presented difficulties. When spoken word was ineffective, she learned how to resolve delicate situations using only hand gestures and crude drawings. These experiences allowed her to see some international issues in a different light.

"Even now, I find myself being much more patient with people who struggle with English," said Thomas, who plans a career in writing. "It's not easy adjusting to a foreign environment, especially a working environment, and I wish more people in America could experience it—and then maybe their minds and attitudes would change."

Study abroad programs are gaining popularity across the country. Last year, 31 department students studied abroad, up from 21 in 2006-07.

"I think this is something that is going to become more of the norm rather than the exception," said Jahrling. "You can't learn these lessons in a textbook; it's such a unique opportunity. Every college student should study abroad."

Memories
The students recall those hot, sweaty days with much fondness.

	See us singing "Hail Purdue" on top of the Great Wall

"We're like a little family now," said senior Val Arias from Chicago. "We see each other on campus and just laugh, remembering something funny or ridiculous from China."

The students kept daily blogs to journal their experiences and keep friends and family at home updated with the happenings in Beijing.

"Sometimes I just log on and read a blog excerpt of someone's," said Arias. "All the memories just come flooding back."