Friday, October 9, 2009

My experience so far

It's been a little more than a month since I started working in the ND Alumni Association as the Hannah Storm Journalism Intern. So far, it's been a great experience. Everyone I've come in contact with has been very friendly and helpful. It seems that people are always willing to help a fellow Domer out.

On my second day working with the alumni association, Angela Sienko, the Senior Editor in Alumni Communications, and the person I work most closely with, gave me a stack of assignments for ND Today. At first, it was a little intimidating. With Scholastic, I usually work on one, maybe two stories at a time, but now I had the responsibility of covering five. After doing some research and contacting several of my sources, I soon realized that it was going to be easier than I had anticipated. Here are a few highlights from my first round of contributions to ND Today:

  • The first story I began working on was a profile of Professor Tracy Kijewski-Correa, associate chair in the College of Engineering. Professor Kijewski-Correa is a Triple Domer ('97 B.S., 2000 M.S., 2003 Ph.D.) and soon after earning her Ph.D. she was hired to begin teaching at the university. Like myself, she is a huge sports fan, and served as a guest coach for the Irish men's basketball team during their 2005 upset win over #4 BC.
  • On Halloween, the Irish will take on Washington State at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Another story I covered for this issue of ND Today discussed the alumni association's service project with the Healy-Murphy Center. By covering this trip, I also learned that those joining the team in San Antonio will be treated to many of the festivities of a South Bend gameday experience, including a pep rally, tailgate and pre-game concert. It is sure to be a fun weekend.
  • Since 2005, the College of Engineering's Peer Mentor progam has served freshmen transitioning to the college environment. One of the things I enjoyed about writing this article was seeing how the Peer Mentors almost serve as a "Frosh-O" staff, for the college. Last year, I was part of Keenan's staff and I thought it was a great way to get the freshmen involved and help develop camaraderie within the dorm. With all the long hours that engineers spend in the Learning Center, I understand why building community is a top priority.
Another great thing about working in the alumni association is the people I have met. Everyone working here shares a love for the university. Home Football Fridays are great. With campus and town both being very hectic, a different department orders lunch to be delivered each week and we all share a meal (Nothing against NDH, but it's a nice change!). It's been a lot of fun so far. I've met some great people and been fortunate to write some interesting articles to share with the ND community.

3 comments:

  1. josh....great blog! so glad you are making the most of your experience.
    hannah

    ReplyDelete
  2. Josh --- Very interesting. Being married to Hannah's Mom, I am one of her biggest fans. I am also connected to NDAA, currently on the Executive Committee of NDSA (Senior Alumni Board). I hope to meet you one day, maybe at the Eck Center; we have our next Board meeting at ND in late January. Or at the San Antonio game - will be there, too. Keep up the good writing.

    Bill Kreps

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Hannah! It's been great so far.

    Bill - I'm not sure I'll be going to the San Antonio game, but if you're around the Eck Center in January, definitely stop up to the second floor. Thanks for the encouraging words!

    GO IRISH! Beat SC!

    ReplyDelete