Get me some coffee. Make ten copies of this.

Some typical things you hear as an intern, right?

Not at MediaTracks. Here, everyone gets his or her own coffee, and I’ve actually never used the copier. I did, however, learn how to use databases, manage multiple social media accounts, and do market research — all in a very short time. I walked in the morning of my first day, having very little ideas about what the company did or what I would be working on. By the end of the day that had all changed. I learned about Audio News Releases, Media Tours, and their two nationally syndicated radio programs, Radio Health Journal and Viewpoints Radio. This led me on the right path for the rest of the semester.

In addition to learning about the broadcast media and public relations industries,  have learned a wide range of general office skills at MediaTracks, including how to reprogram my office phone. I have also taken what I have learned with Radio Health Journal and Viewpoints back to my journalism classroom, and I have realized that what I’m learning in class does actually apply out in the world. While professors had told us that, I now have seen it for myself.

I have worked on a variety of projects that have required me to use research, phone outreach, writing and critical thinking skills, including a customized news feed that targeted Florida areas hit by Hurricane Irma and a national Public Service Announcement for Breast Cancer Awareness. I’ve learned how to use software like my new friend FileMaker Pro, a very powerful database. I hope one day the two of us will find each other again. I also learned how to do market research and run reports using Nielsen, the industry standard for broadcast demographics and data.

As my internship draws to a close, I am proud to say that I am much more confident on the phone than when I started, and have a clearer idea of what goes on in a client-facing, deadline-driven broadcast media agency.

Tacoma Monroe is a Senior at Lake Forest College studying Communications. With the skills she acquired at MediaTracks she has secured another internship for Spring semester at Dress For Success, and says she has gained the confidence to enter the workforce after graduation.