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.