Most students are required to complete an internship before graduation, and some students' internships take them across oceans, across the state or, for some, across the street in their own hometown. For second-year public relations graduate student Vanessa Virbitsky, her internship took her to the mountains of Colorado.
"My favorite part of Colorado was the seemingly unending sunny skies and truly unending adventures in this part of the country. I was able to hike, bike, run and just be outdoors almost every weekend — definitely my kind of place," Virbitsky said.
Virbitsky's summer internship was with the United States Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs. She was able to live out her dreams with an experience of a lifetime, she said.
While working with the USOC, Virbitsky wrote, designed and distributed the weekly U.S. Olympic Sports Scene as well as tweeted for @USOlympic and maintained their Twitter base. Virbitsky, a longtime Olympic fan, was also able to write for and edit Olympic Beat Magazine, for which she wrote the cover story, she said.
"Not only did this experience solidify my ambition to work in sports public relations, and eventually the Olympic Movement, it also allowed me to have Colorado adventures with some of the best and brightest college students in the country," Virbitsky said.
The USOC is one of America's premier sports organizations and the coordinating entity for all Olympic-related athletic activity in the United States, according to their Web site.
Virbitsky said one of the best parts of her internship with the USOC was attending the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team Media Summit in Chicago. The purpose of the media summit was to get the media, athletes, coaches and USOC spokespeople together so that the Olympic hopefuls received media coverage without interrupting their training, Virbitsky said.
"There are no words for the pride I have in knowing I had a part in helping these Olympic hopefuls tell their stories to the American public," she said.
Virbitsky's internship was full-time and lasted six months. Virbitsky went above and beyond the minimum requirements for an internship in the journalism department. Interns are required to work 20 hours a week over a three-day period for at least 10 weeks, Sheryl Swingley, internship coordinator for the department, said.
Although her internship is technically over, Virbitsky will have the opportunity to work as a press officer for the USOC at the Vancouver games and will be there from Feb. 5 to March 2.
"I am looking forward to experiencing the energy and magic of the Olympic games," Virbitsky said.
For students who need help finding an internship, every student on campus has a career counselor at the Career Center. This counselor can help with finding internships or finding jobs for after graduation, said Swingley.
Virbitsky spotted her internship on TeamUSA.org and followed the application process from there. It was a paid internship. She was able to live at the Olympic Training Center and eat her meals at the Athletes' Dining Hall. She was also able to do daily workouts in the same gym, at the same time, as the athletes.
"I encourage anyone with a passion for sports to apply — it will change your life," she said.
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