Student embraces a busy, opportunity-packed path to success

(Editor's Note: This is the 10th in a series of articles about students in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications completing summer internships.)

It’s been a busy summer, and that’s the way Kaitlin Jean-Noel likes it.

She’s experiencing a daily commute to New York City and balancing a full-time internship with Warner Music Group, as well as working at a part-time summer job.

The hard-working, rising Penn State sophomore in the Donald B. Bellisario College of Communications has earned a Bunton-Waller Scholarship and is a member of the Schreyer Honors College, and thrives on busy.

More activities? More responsibility? Yes, and yes.

More hard work? No problem. Jean-Noel appreciates the value of hard work — a trait modeled by her parents, Pierre and Julie, who immigrated to the United States from Haiti in the early 1990s.

During her first year as at Penn State student, Jean-Noel thrived — joining a student-driven marketing group and the student organization that publishes Sovereign magazine.

Ironically, Penn State was not her first choice.

“It was talked about a lot, and a lot of my friends were coming here. I wanted to do something different. But, when I really looked at it, the opportunities and resources at Penn State were too much to pass up,” she said. “I’ve loved it. It’s allowed me to grow, and the things available to me have opened so many doors.”

An urban promotions internship at Atlantic Records, part of Warner Music Group, is the latest door.

Her many daily responsibilities include compiling information about the number of times songs are played across the country and in specific media markets. She also works closely with marketing teams focused on specific artists and trying to facilitate their success.

The company has nearly 90 summer interns, with 75 in New York City and 15 in California. Individual career development and group collaboration are prioritized for the interns, who work in small teams on summer-long marketing projects. They also all get to work with several departments across the organization.

For Jean-Noel, an advertising/public relations major pursuing a minor in digital media trends and analytics, the experience has been invaluable.

“Before coming here I wanted to be a publicist and that’s still a strong possibility. Working with so many departments is ideal, though. It incorporates my major and minor, as well as creative aspects," she said.

“I do enjoy looking at numbers — doing that kind of research and getting a little nerdy — but the internship overall has opened my eyes to all kinds of exciting career possibilities."