Thomas Barrett
Mass Communication
Content Production, NBA
Describe your typical day as an intern.
I would wake up at 8a.m. to a hustling New York City. I stayed right in midtown Manhattan so I would walk to the bus station to bus over to Secaucus, NJ where my office was. I would get to the office and then I would either help producers gather footage or I would go into the edit room by myself and create a video using all of the videos in the archive. I created multiple pieces this summer that displayed my editing skills.
What is the most exciting thing about your role?
Being able to say that I have worked with people that I have grown up idolizing my entire life. I have seen how everything works from an inside point of view, so now that I know how things work, I can come back and view things with a different lens. Every time I see an NBA game I will know what it takes to make that game happen, every commercial I watch, I will know who is behind it, and every video I see, I know that it came from my department who edited and produced it.
How has your internship prepared you for your career?
It showed me the real world. I have been lucky to have had a lot of different opportunities interning within a few different organizations. The things I have learned I will never forget because I got to see what a real job looks like. I do not just get coffee for people, I am doing real work.
What recommendations do you have for other students doing an internship?
Strive to work harder than everyone there. Show that you truly care about not only the work you do, but about yourself. If you think you have nothing to do, you are wrong. If you are not proactive and you do not go out of your way to do something, than you are not doing it right.