What I learned in a week as a Wintern (illustrated through the season of Winter)

Hello, everybody! This is Nina back for semester two of career story telling and somewhat-sage advice!

I hope everyone had a great winter break with a lot of rest. As for me, I spent all but five days sitting on my couch recharging from the horrors that were finals.

For five days and five days only, I swapped my sweatpants for slacks, wedged myself onto the morning NYC subways, and hustled through Time Square for my Winternship at WNET.

Me transforming into "Intern-Mode" (source)

What's a Wintern?

Working during the wintertime is rough... (source)

If you're wondering, "What? Wintern? That's not a word!" You may be right--but it still exists!

The Winternship Program is a week-long internship run by the Tufts Film and Media Studies department. Interns apply and are selected for a role with a specific company where they are assigned a mentor - a vast majority being Tufts Alumni - and if you're savvy, some Winternships can turn into summer internships!

A Whole New Wintern-Wonderland!

Me going to my Winternship :) (source)

My Winternship was my first exposure to public broadcast media. As a print media gal, I hadn't considered the possibilities and intrigue of broadcast. It was a whole new way of storytelling that I had never considered.

But now, I'm looking into broadcast media for my summer internship--it's a new world of opportunities that I wouldn't be open to if I hadn't had my Winternship.

Of course, if things had gone the opposite direction where I end up not enjoying this industry . . . well, that's the beauty of a Winternship! It's a week-long experience - just enough to get a taste, but not long enough to have to make a major commitment.

Alumni Connections

Don't be afraid to introduce yourself (source)

My Winternship at WNET was very "Tufts-y" since I was working around THREE Tufts alums! Not only that, but CEO/Founder Neil Shapiro is also a Jumbo! This is a company that has a lot of Jumbo Pride, and it was great to hear how these successful alumni used their Tufts education to get to where they are today.

Wintern Highlights

Just embrace the wonderfulness of Winternships! (source)

I don't think I would have gotten as interested in broadcast and public media during my five days at WNET if it wasn't for the awesome professionals who took the time to talk to me and answer all my questions.

In the span of five days, I got to work with a new person every day. I was meeting people in sound production, editing, social media, reporting and producing. It was great to hear from all the different voices that contribute to the success of a program.

While the Winternship Program gives you the opportunity to get involved with great organizations, it's up to you to make the most of it. Ask questions, volunteer for new experiences, introduce yourself to people.

It's kind of like being a tourist in a new place: Pretend like this is the only time you'll see these people and be in this place. Be eager, intrigued, and exercise your right to ask lots of questions--make the most of it! You may find that such a mentality will make you want to come back again...

Thanks for reading!
Nina Joung
Class of 2018

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Interested in Communications & Media? Think about a January Winternship

As we reach November’s icy beginning, I’d like to remind Tufts’ media-savvy to start finalizing apps for the CMS Winternship Program, a fantastic opportunity to try your bets at a big-name media company in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Boston. Co-sponsored by Career Services and the Communications and Media Studies Department, the CMS Wintership is a valuable chance to shadow top-notch professionals through their daily routines and gain a panoramic view into a specific media job site. This year’s Wintership Program launches the week of January 10th-14th, just the time to break up our lazy winter break routine of TV and afternoon wake-ups. Winternship veterans consistently bring back the most valuable of experiences from their busy, one-week stint within the media field.

This year’s 2011 Winternship opportunities are especially worth giving a shot. In Boston, there’s the exciting chance to be a temporary add-on to top-rank media companies like David Sutherland Productions and Walden Media. For those that hail from New York (or are a train-ride away, like me), you can try your bets at a score of companies including Random House and TV Guide Magazine. And for all you West-Coasters, there’s the chance to put your Tufts knowledge to use at media sites like Bona Fide Productions and International Creative Management (ICM). The Winternship application is due by 5 p.m., November 4th in hard-copy form to the Career Services office. You’re allowed to apply to a maximum of three eye-catching media internships that pique your professional interest.

As a wannabe-journalist myself, I’m also looking forward to utilizing the Winternship opportunity to get a taste of media at the professional level. Unfortunately, between traveling back from overseas and then booking it to Spanish-speaking Mexico, winter break might be a tad too hectic for me this time around. But for those fellow media-fans with more time on your hands, I highly recommend looking into the CMS Winterships for a chance to see how communications is conducted in today’s job market. Shadowing a professional in the media world—first-handedly witnessing all daily operations and specialized tasks—is the number one way to discover what your job site and particular interest area are all about. Along with easy access to networking contacts, the Winternship experience provides a valuable insight into our specific interests and fortes---which we can start to pair, in turn, with a swanky future profession.

Kathy, our former Career Services Ambassador, participated in an NYC Winternship last year. Read about her experiences here.

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A Voyage Aboard the WinternSHIP

I'll be honest, my Winter Break was kind of a bust. Thanks to an especially nasty case of tonsillitis, I spent the better part of it lying down and staring at the ceiling. My New Year's Eve consisted of me watching Carson Daly on TV in a Nyquil-induced fog while my parents kept trying their best not to nod off before midnight. Swell. It was not a complete loss, though.

Last semester, I applied to the Tufts CMS Winternship Program, which is cosponsored by Career Services and the Communications & Media Studies department and pairs up students with media professionals in the LA, Boston and NYC areas. I was delighted to find out that I had been assigned to work at Trickle Up in NYC for a week from January 11th - 15th.

This extraordinary nonprofit empowers people living on less than $1 a day to take the first steps out of poverty by providing them with business training, seed capital to launch or expand a business, and savings support to build a better quality of life for themselves and their families. I met Bill Abrams, the president of Trickle Up (and a Tufts alumnus), early Monday morning, and then proceeded to follow him from meeting to meeting until around Thursday evening. It was a little overwhelming at first, but I very much appreciated the opportunity to sit in on these meetings because it gave me the chance to meet a lot of different people, and to become acquainted with various departments within the company. During the week, I attended meetings devoted to everything from event planning to budgeting to reaching out to donors. I was even able to watch Mr. Abrams get interviewed about the benefits of microfinancing by NY1, a popular 24 hour web news channel.


Unfortunately, family obligations required me to leave my winternship a day early, but I nevertheless feel that I had an educational and fulfilling experience at Trickle Up. Although I've known for a while that I want to work in the realm of communications after graduation, I've had some trouble narrowing that down to focus on a particular area. Interning at Trickle Up was my first foray into the world of nonprofit work, and it showed me that my ideal job is one in which I can devote my skills and talents to making a positive change in the world. Internships give you a chance to acquire valuable hands-on experience in a variety of different fields, enabling you to discover where your strengths and passions truly lie. Career Services provides many different resources for locating, financing and everything else-ing internships - check them out!

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