HAC Students Soar Through Summer Internships

By: Noah Swift

With this past summer being a bit different than one’s past, it raised a lot of questions regarding just about everything you could think of. It affected everyone’s day-to-day activities across the globe, but we found a way to make it work. We know of two HAC students here at Trine that made it work through all the craziness by landing great internships and gaining some real-world experience this past summer. Trine Senior Shay Herbert and Junior Meghan Schrader talked to us about their experiences, and what they learned regarding their internships this past summer.  

Shay Herbert was able to land her internship at WANE-TV in Fort Wayne, with the position of a production intern. Shay had some roles within the workplace.  

“My responsibilities included editing topicals to air, topicals are sneak peaks for the news cast later in the day,” Shay stated, “I worked closely with our commercial editor and helped shoot and produce local commercials. I was also able to go out on some stories with reporters, work cameras for live shows, help bring in and mic guests, and work in the control room,” Herbert said. It was great to hear that Shay was able to get some real-world experience in the news world. Since this summer was so wild, we were wondering if anything seemed strange, or if there were any significant changes to her internship description. There did happen to be a few, as it turned out.  

“News stations have been one of the most important sources for information during the pandemic, so my experience was pretty normal. The only strange part was that they shot the news differently and pre-recorded a lot of things, so there weren't a bunch of people in the studio at the same time,” Shay said. Even the organization of the newsroom changed during this past summer, which may come surprising to some. Overall, Shay had a great experience.  

“I learned a lot about how news stations work and all the different departments that work together on one show. I was also able to improve my editing skills and learn more about commercial shooting and editing,” Shay said. It’s always great to be able to use what you have learned and apply it to real world situations!  

Another HAC student that got a great internship this past semester Meghan Schrader. Meghan had the opportunity to be a remote content creator for Anna Beyerle of Anna Beyerle Creative, an independent brand strategy business.  

In this position, Meghan spoke about some of her responsibilities in her internship. 

“I was responsible for crafting copy for the company’s newsletters, blogs, social media posts, etc. I also crafted several drip campaigns, which is like a series of emails designed like a sales funnel,” Meghan said. Similar to some other internships, the job changed along with the times. Especially with the presence of Covid-19. Meghan’s internship experience changed as well. 

“We had to rework and redirect our thinking amidst some of the political and social topics that were arising throughout the summer,” Meghan said, and it was one eventful summer. Meghan really enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to work at this internship.  

“I really loved having the freedom and responsibility of kind of planning my own work schedule. I got to take like three vacations over the summer because I had the freedom not seen in most in-person jobs. I loved having my pay be project-based instead of hourly. It puts emphasis on the quality of the piece which can be lost in normal, hourly jobs. Overall, working with Anna was just really great,” Meghan remarked. Not only did Meghan really enjoy this experience, she felt like she really learned something. 

“I got to experience the real world of content creation and business ownership. I didn’t know anything about writing blogs or newsletters or drip campaigns before doing this job”, Meghan stated. Meghan was able to optimize and improve other skills such as her writing, and marketing skills.  

Throughout the crazy summer we have had, it is nice to hear about some Trine students finding a way to make it work. It provided great opportunities and learning experiences for both Meghan and Shay, and they will definitely use what they have learned to propel their careers into the future. Follow the HAC Media Team for more articles and information!