Academics

Intern adapts to lengthy commute for opportunity in NYC

Aaron Andrews gets up early for the 130-mile one-way trip to his internship, and he thinks the experience and opportunity make the investment worthwhile. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

(Editor's Note: This is the eighth in a series of stories about College of Communications students completing summer internships.)

More than 130 miles separate Reading, Pennsylvania, and New York City. To drive that distance takes about two and a half hours.

One Penn State College of Communications student makes that commute four to five times a week, via bus. Not only that, but he could start work as early as 6:30 a.m., or end as late as midnight, depending on the day.

“Getting up sometimes is a challenge. It can be like 3:30 a.m. so I can catch my bus and can get there on time. That was a big challenge at first. I’m getting used to it a little bit more,” said film-video major Aaron Andrews.

Andrews, who graduated in May, is spending the summer as a studio manager intern with Bravo Media. Among other things, Bravo has green screen studios that it rents out to companies, filmmakers and TV shows. As part of his internship, Andrews assists clients with everything from setting up and tearing down lights to making equipment runs and answering questions.

Going into the gig, he already had a lot of the skills and tools to be successful, from working as a videographer for Onward State to being a member of the Student Film Organization, as well as working in the college’s green screen studio at Innovation Park. Andrews said some things do differ, though, including terminology and roles.

“I guess just the realization that when you’re at Penn State, everyone is kind of trying to help each other out whether you’re in a directing role, in a lighting role or you’re talent. Here, I had to get used to that fact that I’m in a studio manager position. Then, there are people who are producers, then there are people who are directing, then there are lighting people,” said Andrews.

“People don’t tend to really cross into each other’s roles. Not to say that people don’t try to help each other out, but people come into it and have been doing it for years. It’s a lot different that the college environment of everybody trying to help each other out because none of us have done this before.”

When the internship is finished at the end of September, Andrews hopes to end up in either New York City or Los Angeles. So far, he has spent most of his time at Penn State working toward a career in editing, and has had the opportunity to do some of that at Bravo. But, Andrews took the internship with Bravo to get more production experience because he already had so much postproduction work.

“I wanted to get a ground-up knowledge of everything that’s happening. That’s what I’m taking with me as I move on from here in the future,” said Andrews.

In addition to experience, Andrews will also take a lot of connections with him. A benefit to the position is that he gets to work with different people almost daily as new clients from all over the business work in the studio. This means great networking opportunities and, on occasion, being able to work with celebrities, including Yoko Ono and Wendy Williams.

“The best part of this internship is the fact that I get to meet new people in the business every day. I get the chance to meet really cool people,” said Andrews. “Aside from the actual talent and the actors that come in, just meeting people in the industry and making new contacts are definitely some of the highlights.”

Last Updated June 2, 2021