Brittany: COM-portunities

Brittany

The last time you heard from me, I was interning at Chronicle on Boston’s WCVB Channel 5. I told you all what a great experience it was for me, but the best had yet to come. By the end of the summer, my hard work earned me the opportunity to be an associate producer for a segment of a show! I came up with my own story idea, organized, planned, made contacts, filled out paperwork, and accompanied the crew on the day of the shoot—all the responsibilities of a real (read: salaried) producer. The episode aired a few days after I left for school, and it was the best way I could have ended my time at the station.

After Chronicle, I started working for New England Sports Network (NESN) in the fall. I’m a Boston Bruins/Hockey East Studio Production intern—a position I’m convinced is the best job in Boston. When the Bruins are home, I ride along to the Garden, where I do one of many things—learn how to run tech equipment from the truck, stage manage the pre-, post-, and intermission reports from the in-house studio, or stage manage the color and play-by-play commentators from their booth. After the game, I usually run tapes of post-game interviews from the locker room to feed them back to the office. There’s a lot of running around the Garden, but there’s no place I’d rather be on game day.

Recently I’ve been doing a lot of work for Hockey East. I was the time out coordinator for the Frozen Fenway games (check out the picture that Dean Sabovik took off of the TV that day!), and I’ve put in countless hours working on Beanpot features in preparation for the tournament in February. My internship at NESN is so multifaceted, I never know what to expect as I walk in in the morning. COM has given me the preparation to handle whatever is expected of me at any given time, and complete the task at a professional level.

Last semester, I applied and got into a class going abroad to London this summer to cover the Olympics with COM. Come next year I will have graduated, and I’m so thankful that I will be able to cap out my three years at BU with such an amazing work experience. You can read more about it here: http://www.bu.edu/com/2011/12/13/students-tapped-to-cover-olympics-in-london/.

The point of my post is this—everything that I talked about truly is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Through COM, I’ve had opportunities and experiences that many college students can only dream of. I’m happy to answer any questions about internships that you might have, and I look forward to sharing my contacts with the next batch of COM students!

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Kate: Boston Summer Bucket List

Kate Scott
Kate Scott

It’s summertime, and while most of my friends from BU and high school have returned home, I am still in Boston enjoying this amazing city in warm weather (when you actually want to get out and see it)! I am still working at COM (stop in and say hello when you get here for orientation!) and am also a New Media intern for TalentCulture, a company that focuses on the world of work through blogging and social media.  It has been a fantastic experience so far and I am learning a ton! But I live by the motto “Work hard, play hard” so I made myself a Bucket List of Boston activities to do this summer! Here we go:

1.     Go to the beach. If you’re from a landlocked state, you will understand how excited I was to finally live closer than 10 hours from the ocean.  Castle Island, the Harbor Islands, and the North Shore have all been recommended to me and I am determined to hit the beach as many times as possible this summer.

2.     Buy fresh fruit and vegetables from a Farmer’s Market. There are a TON of markets all around Boston with fresh fruit, veggies, fish, cheese, bread, and all the noms you could want.  There is a HUGE one down near the North End that I could shop at all day and the SoWa market in the South End every Sunday. Yumm….

3.     Watch a free show in the Common. Free Movie Fridays and Shakespeare in the Park are all highlights of summer.  I’ll see you all at Toy Story 3 at the end of July! J

4.     Pet sharks at the New England Aquarium. Boston has a fantastic aquarium, home to penguins, sting rays, seals, and thousands of fish.  It’s a little expensive but this is a must-see for me this summer.

5.     See the Chihuly Exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. In case you didn’t know, we go to the best school in Boston- BU pays for its students to go to the MFA for free (that’s a $22 savings)!  Chihuly glass is gorgeous so it should be a fabulous exhibit in addition to all the other awesome art in the MFA.

6.     Hang out on the Greenway. Boston is definitely a busy and crowded city, but there is a great green space downtown called the Rose Kennedy Greenway.  It’s a mile long set of parks with fountains, a carousel, and tons of events every weekend to enjoy! Oh and did I mention free Wi-Fi?  At some point, I will be grabbing a big blanket and heading down there to enjoy the gorgeous weather!

7.     Attend a festival. Boston is home to tons of different ethnic festivals and parades.  While St. Patrick’s Day may have fallen during spring break keeping me from experiencing the Irish heritage, I refuse to miss the Italian celebration in the North End on August 6.  Your fellow COM Ambassador Tom Schrank will be joining me for this one!

8.     See a movie at the Coolidge Corner movie theater. Open since 1933, the Coolidge Corner Theater is a Boston landmark that shows everything from great old black and whites to intriguing indies, even that newly released romantic comedy you’re embarrassed to admit looks good.  Coolidge Corner is only a 15 minute walk from campus so this may be happening more than once this summer.

9.     Walk the Esplanade. The Esplanade is a great area along the Charles River.  It goes right by campus and into downtown.  There are boat houses, river landings to hang out on, and the Hatch Shell where they put on summer concerts.  It should be much nicer now that it is not negative ten degrees outside.

10.  Enjoy a Fenway Frank at a Red Sox game. A Boston classic, I couldn’t go the summer without entering Red Sox nation at least once.  I’ll be decked in my Cardinals gear but hey, at least the colors are the same.

Let me know if there is anything I left off this list, I am looking for tons of fun things to do this summer!  Can’t wait to see you guys this fall- BU is a blast!!