By: Ariana González
Caitlin Reardon
Major(s): Journalism and a minor in Political Science
Graduation Year: 2025
Internship: New England Public Media
What drew you to your internship before applying for it? Which interests aligned with the type of work you would be doing?
I was always familiar with NEPM since I grew up in Western Massachusetts. I liked how they focused locally on what was going on, and I also liked that they were a public broadcast radio. During my time there I was able to interview local legislators and cover current events. Before NEPM, I didn't have much experience in radio, but taking my experience from the Daily Collegian, I wanted to expand my skillset into radio. Doing collegian work in the news section was what prepared me to transfer those skills, also the web aspect of it combined my interests in radio and the web.
How was the application process?
I found my position through Handshake. It was a very standard application process where I submitted my resume and cover letter, and submitted clips with 3 of my long-form pieces about social justice and activism on campus and current news. My interview process was great! I got the email that I was accepted after one interview. it was very exciting. they liked that I was local and familiar with the area. Even if you're not local to the internship you’re applying for, doing in-depth research on the area goes a long way.
What previous experience prepared you for the interview?
In previous years, I was a staff writer for the collegian and I jumped into the news section. I had a couple of mentors in the social justice beat which helped me with my reporter experience. I was able to jump in and tag along with them to cover stories and news on campus which prepared me a lot for my internship. In my Sophomore year, I became an assistant editor.
As for the interview, having pre internship reporting experience with the collegian helped me gain the confidence of approaching people and being conversational. This made it so that when I was on the other side of the interview, it doesn’t have to be so scary but it was still nerve-wracking. Having mentors in the Daily Collegian also prepared me professionally for the interview.
What did your first days look like in the internship in comparison to your last? What were some of the things you learned?
On my first day, I was nervous because it was my first internship in the working world and I wanted to make a good impression. When I got there, everyone made me feel comfortable. I was introduced to the staff and the office in Springfield. They were showing me the ropes and I met one reporter, Nirvani Williams, who is such a great reporter. She was the collegian’s mentor a couple of years back as a freshman. I was able to shadow her and see what that experience was like. One of the first stories I did was on a Springfield mural about Ruth E. Carter, who is from Springfield. She talked about her experiences working in art and being from Springfield. I started out shadowing Williams before I got to write my reports. It was cool to see how she jumped right into it and talked to some of the artists who were gonna talk at the event. We created a nice story out of it.
My Last day at the NEPM internship was in August. I was working on this feature story through the winter. My feature was about a Berkshire UFO sighting in 1969 which has a Netflix documentary on it. There are a lot of witnesses to this and I was reporting on it around the time Congress was having hearings on UFOs where people were talking about how they saw UFOs. I contacted people and was able to get in touch with one witness who had an experience seeing a UFO as a child. Putting the story together was fun and a good challenge between finding the playfulness and also what's going on politically. I finished the story in December and it came together pretty well.
Was there anything about your internship that surprised you? Things you didn’t expect?
I went into the internship strictly with a background in print, so I was very used to a more formal style of writing news stories. I knew radio would be a bit different, but what surprised me was how radio required quite conversational scripts. I enjoyed learning how to make my writing more casual and accessible for listeners who may be tuning in from the car or at home.
What are some of the things you learned from your internship? How did it inform your long-term career goals?
The internship made me very interested in pursuing radio and integrating multimedia into my skill set. As I am almost ready to graduate and enter the professional industry, my goals have broadened with a newfound love for, and experience in radio that I am hoping I can apply shortly!
What advice would you give to someone applying for this internship in the future?
My advice would be to have an enthusiasm to learn and jump in and say yes. Saying yes to opportunities and being willingness to learn enthusiastically even if you’re a little but scared You should also have curiosity and always be willing to learn new things and jump into them for example, I came from print and went into a world of broadcast journalism. Overall, general curiosity and enthusiasm pay off and you will do a lot of great work.