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A Big Experience on a Small Island By Danielle Sullivan on March 9, 2011

Photo Credit - Marist in Manhattan Website

Many students pack their bags for a long flight over seas, so they can spend four

months traveling in a new country and learning about a different culture. For other

students, however, their time away from Marist will be spent much closer to home. Marist in Manhattan, a new program that allows Fashion and Communication

majors to intern in New York City, while taking courses online, is in its first

semester and is currently working on gaining applicants for next fall. “Marist in Manhattan was begun to give students a unique opportunity to live ��� full-

time in Manhattan and combine internships and study,” professor Gerald McNulty,

the Communication Program contact, said. “We believe NYC is ���an unparalleled media city.”

The program, opened to juniors and seniors, allows students to intern

with companiessuch as Atlas Media, MTV, ABC, Michael Kors, Vogue, and

Dolce & Gabbana. Students can work in fashion departments, public relations,

journalism and advertising. “We hope that they can learn about ���big city life and media culture as they spend

many hours each week in their ���internships,” McNulty said. “It is the full-time

nature of the internships that makes this ���experience special.” Some students are not only using this opportunity to intern, but as their abroad

experience.

“My credits that I took into college didn’t allow me to go abroad so I was really happy to be able to apply for ���this instead,” Abbey Scalia, a sophomore who is

currently applying for the program said.

While holding full-time internships in the city, students are required to take online courses in Fashion or Communication. The fall semester’s Communication course

list includes: COM 425L Communication Theory, COM 330L Media Ethics and

COM 402L Seminar in Communication: Media Management. Junior Bryan Terry who is studying journalism never applied to any schools in

Manhattan but is currently working on his application, which is due March 11.

“The city atmosphere has always been something I’ve been interested in trying out, even if just for a while,” Terry said. “I visit friends who live in Manhattan and

Queens all the time so I’ll be interested how actually living there will impact how

I feel about the city.” The goal of this program is to offer students a unique immersion experience in

media that will make them more desirable job candidates after graduation.

“It’s a totally different dimension than a two day week internship,” program director Lydia Biskup said. “It really highlights the industry and gives [students] a

hands on pace as to what they’ll be doing on the job. It also exposes them to other

facets of the job that they may never have thought about.” Since many companies look for relevant work experience on resumes, students

will be able to use this opportunity as a career stepping stone.

“My overall goal is to make more connections in my field and move closer to

securing a job after college,” Terry said. “Graduation is going to be here in a flash and I want to be prepared by the time that rolls around.”

While this opportunity opens career doors for students, it does take them away

from Marist campus and their friends, yet many students don’t see this as a problem.

“I’m not too worried about ���missing much on campus because I will be a junior and

a lot of my ���friends are studying abroad junior year as well,” Scalia said. Students studying in Manhattan trade in their single rooms in Fulton for rooms in

the DeHirsch Residence in the famous 92nd St. Y, located on Lexington Ave. The

building has a health club, gymnasium and pool, a café and numerous meeting rooms, which makes things easily available to students. Unlike those who

commute from Marist on Metro-North for their internships twice a week, students

in the program are conveniently located near the 4,5,6 subway and cut down on travel time everyday.

As of now the program only accepts Fashion and Communication majors, however

the school will eventually look into broadening the program to reach more students as time goes on.

“The program is great for hands on experience and also a sense of

professionalism,” Biskup said. ”Students gain skills they’ll need to navigate the fashion industry and first and foremost jobs!”

Posted in Business, Life, News | Tagged education, internship, jobs