Anna's blog
Class of 2012, Business Administration Major, from Waukesha, WI

Despite summer only ending a few months ago, it is already time for me to start thinking about what I am going to do next summer. As I learned last year, finding a good summer internship in itself is like a part time job. It requires hours and hours of research, writing, and making contacts. I last year wrote cover letters and applied to a couple dozen companies, and plan to apply to at least double the amount I did last. However unlike last year, I have a lot more experience to show on my resume so I hope my chances of acquiring a good internship are slightly higher.

A few weeks ago I made an appointment with career services to discuss internships in general and they were very helpful. Not only did the person I met with take the time to carefully critique my resume, but she also showed excellent site for finding internships, and great tips on bettering my chances of getting the internships that I am looking for. Some advice she gave me was to call the company to ask more questions about the internship and mention the person you speak to in your cover letter. This is just one way of having your resume stand out from the stacks and stacks of hopeful college student’s resumes they have to choose from. I would have never thought of doing this but it seems like such an easy way to stand out and better your chances of getting your dream internship. Over the next couple of months I will continue this process and keep you updated on my progress.

Until next time, Happy Holloween!

The first nine weeks at St. Norbert this year have been extremely busy! From my classes, to my internship, to meetings, to tennis practice and matches, and not to mention all of the other activities I am involved with, I have discovered that I must learn time management extremely well in order to keep myself from falling behind. One thing I have discovered is that I like being busy all of the time because it keeps the day moving and before I know it a whole week has gone by.

Now that my tennis season is done, a few hours a day are opened up, however I am involved with so many other activities that I find myself just as occupied as during my season. I am very proud of my team this year. For the third time in St. Norbert history and the first time in thirteen years we won the Midwest Conference Team Title. This was a very unexpected victory that we definitely had to work hard to earn. Since we did win, we automatically qualify for the NCAA Division III tournament in spring. I cannot wait!

My internship in the Office of Communications has been off to a great start this year. While I am doing very similar tasks as I was responsible for last year, I don't mind what I am doing and find it interesting and varied from day to day. One day I am modeling for promotional material and the next I am adjusting and retouching photos to be placed on our school's website. I recently just got done helping out with De Pere Community Night which is always great to be part of because it is something that actually goes beyond our school and reaches out into the community in which we live. While this internship is a different form of media than what I experienced this summer, I have definitely discovered that I am very interested in this line of work and hope to keep pursing this industry.

Hey again!

So as I was saying last time, I drove up to the Fox Point/Glendale area which is a distance (especially during rush hour) from my house in Waukesha. I went to the hotel where base camp was set up and met with the production designer from LA. He told me more about the film and what I would be doing as an art department intern during the course of the month and a half of filming. It turned out that the movie was called “No God, No Master” by Strata Productions, and it was about the 1919 investigation of Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti. It originally took place in New York City however, they decided to film in Wisconsin because there were many parts of Milwaukee that had the same feel, for a fraction of the price. The main character in the movie William Flynn, was being played by David Strathairn (Academy Award Nominee for Good Night Good Luck, also starred in The Bourne Ultimatum, LA Confidential, Miami Vice, The Spiderwick Chronicles). In addition Mariana Klaveno from the hit television show True Blood, Sam Witwer from the television show Smallville, and Paul Iacono from the newly released movie Fame, were also going to be in it. As he was describing my internship I was trying to remain calm and professional but inside my head I was ecstatic beyond all means. How many students from Wisconsin ever get the chance to intern for a feature film being shot near their hometown? Not many. I knew that this was going to be the opportunity of a lifetime and I was so grateful that they found that I had the skills and qualities they were looking for in an intern.

I started the next day and from June 30th to August 15th I drove the hour and a half to two hour round trip commute to intern 9-5, five days a week. I was able to work alongside highly accomplished film industry professionals from L.A., Chicago, and Milwaukee; however, I spent most of my time working directly alongside the talented art director who flew in from LA. Every day I would find myself helping out with new and exciting things. One day I would be canning dozens of large jars to be used in an Italian grocery scene and the next I would be out helping the set decorator scour antique malls for the perfect 1910’s era decorations. Since I have decent knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite I also was able to assist the art director with various graphics and photo retouching/editing. I learned everything from the script revision color order to what POCs, APOCs, ADs, Line Producers, and Swing Crew members actually do. One thing I quickly discovered is that I worked easily and efficiently under tight deadlines and was able to keep my composure and focus during high pressure situations. I also quickly learned how to keep my focus and professionalism when working alongside well known actors and managed to stop myself from becoming a crazed fan and instead remain a working professional.

My favorite day by far was when I got the chance to single handedly decorate the inside of a farmhouse that was to be shot in an upcoming scene. That by itself was very exciting knowing that what I was doing would be seen by millions of viewer across the country. However, after I did that the art director pulled me aside and told me that she wanted to show me something. She ended up taking me outside down by the road of the farmhouse where they were currently filming a scene. I then had the chance to sit down, right in between the director, Terry Green, and the main actor, David Strathairn, and watch them film a scene. I was actually at the time more excited as to who I was sitting next to than the actual scene being shot but I thought overall it was a very amazing experience.

I am extremely grateful for having this internship and hope that having this experience and keeping in touch with the contacts I made will make my dream of entering the entertainment business more of an attainable possibility. The movie comes out this coming spring/summer and I am anxiously anticipating seeing the final version and being able to see all the hard work I helped out with (and hopefully my name in the credits!) on a big screen. I’ll keep you updated when I find out more!

Welcome back everyone! I realize that school did start four weeks ago, but I have been super busy getting back in the routine, so I am writing my first blog of the year now!

This summer I had an opportunity that I could of never in a million years imagined I would get the chance to have. But before I go into that I should let you know that my summer started out as a big disappointment job-wise. I had spent several months already searching, applying, and interviewing for summer jobs and internships without any luck. The month of May came and went and I still was unemployed and starting to worry if I would ever find a job for the summer.

Then at the beginning of June I had the opportunity to go to a weeklong institute presented by WFIC (Wisconsin Foundation for Independent Colleges) in my hometown of Waukesha, which I found to be very interesting. We were able to meet and network with industry professionals in the insurance field and I learned a lot about areas which I would have never thought of to be part of the insurance industry that I was very interested in such as their in-house graphic design, marketing, and event planning departments. In addition we were put into groups to create and present case study problems about various aspects of the insurance industry which we learned about that week and my group ended up winning which meant we each walked away with a $100 bill! Not bad for only a few hours work.

After that I spent several weeks searching and searching, still trying to remain optimistic about finding some type of job to do for the summer when I happened to randomly decide to check Craig’s List one day and found a listing for interns needed in the art department of a feature film being shot in Milwaukee. I submitted my resume and cover letter and shortly after got a call from the production designer, wanting me to come to the north side of Milwaukee (almost an hour away, yikes!) for an interview. Stay tuned for my next blog where I will tell you more about what happened!

Wow so this is really it? The end of my freshman year at college. This is a milestone that you wait for your entire childhood and once it comes to an end it seems too fast. I am still in awe that this year is over when it seems like it literally just began. It’s weird to think that no longer can I be considered a freshman, and I have moved to the ranks of a sophomore. I think that it is funny how at first you feel like a stranger here wanting to go back to high school, the place you call home. But now it feels like this is my home and I could honestly never see myself ever again wanting to go back to the bells and hall passes of the place where I had just spent the last four years of my life.

In college you are given so much freedom. This freedom can either make you or break you. I believe that it is a true test of character and that how you handle the freedom shows who you are as a human being. Aside from the academic knowledge you gain, I honestly think that is one of the most important pieces of wisdom that you learn during your four years at college. While my first chapter at a new life may be coming to a close, I still have three more years at St. Norbert College to look forward to, three more years of sharing with you my life as a green knight.

Have a great summer everyone!

Wishing you the best,
Anna