The Importance of Being More Than “Just an Intern”

According to Samantha Casamento

How ELN helped land Samantha Casamento a once in a lifetime internship

Elon News Network

Hannah Ossip
————
April 23, 2019

Samantha Casamento has had a passion for being in front

of the camera since she was a child. At a young age, she began a

Youtube Channel which consisted of makeup tutorials and daily

vlogs and eventually gained up to 8,000 subscribers. This

passion continued into high school, when she became the anchor

of her high school morning TV show. This is why becoming an

active member of ELN, Elon Local News, seemed like an obvious decision when attending Elon

University and is the sole reason Samantha was able to land an internship at WFMZ TV in

Allentown, Pa.

Samantha is a sophomore at Elon University studying Journalism. In summer 2018, she

to worked as a news intern at WFMZ TV, a news station, also known at 69 news, that covers

Lehigh Valley and some parts of New Jersey and New York.
 Samantha found her internship through a friend in ELN, Jackie. Jackie was an intern at

WFMZ during her sophomore year summer and reached out to the internship director to help

land Samantha an interview. Samantha interned there for a total of 200 hours and although it was

not paid, she was able to receive two class credits at the School of Communications, at Elon.

Internships are usually rare for freshmen, however Samantha felt confident in her abilities and

pursued it anyway.

A typical day as an intern for Samantha involved waking up at 6:30 a.m. and driving an

hour and half to the news station. “To start my day, I would check online to see the latest news, I

would also call all the Allentown police and fire stations to see if there was any breaking news”

said Samantha. Then, she would go to the morning assignment meeting, where the staff would

discuss the daily schedule and important tasks. These might be, finding breaking news,

recording, editing, interviewing people and other jobs for the interns. Samantha would then wait

for the afternoon reporters to arrive, and go out with them to help interview people. “I always

loved when the staff would ask me to help them with the photography, recording and video for

their stories” said Samantha. Although she was not able to edit her own packages and content,

she was able to track footage and write the stories from time to time. Samantha was also in

charge of writing teasers for the evening show. “Although a typical day may sound stressful, I

made sure to take advantage of every second of it” said Samantha.

“My favorite part about being an intern at WFMZ TV were the lasting connections and

friendships I made, not only with the staff but the civilians I was able to interact and interview

within Lehigh Valley.” She interviewed various people, all with different and unique
backgrounds, such as the the manager of the Phantoms, the professional ice hockey team, the

CEO of Martin Guitars, and a local 100-year-old man.

Samantha learned something new with each person she interviewed and these stories will

stick with her throughout her life. “I’ll never forget interviewing Eddie, the 100-year-old man,

while he was taking his daily walk around the neighborhood,” said Samantha. “He told me that

no matter what age he is, he will never stop exercising.”

Talking with people also allowed for Samantha to widen her connections and network

within Lehigh Valley. ELN had given Samantha immense experience when it comes to talking to

real people, which helped prepare her for this internship. “I remember the first time I had to

interview a civilian, I was awkward and a little shy, but the more you do it, the more easy and

fun it becomes,” said Samantha.

Samantha would actively pitch ideas during her the WFMZ morning meetings. Many

interns would stay quiet and let the staff speak during these meetings, but Samantha made sure

her ideas were heard.

One week, Samantha pitched a story that the stuff absolutely loved. Samantha volunteers

at a rescue shelter in her free time and had recently heard about a family whose two sons, aged 9

and 11, died in a house fire. The sons had always wanted two German Shepherds and the shelter

had just got in two german shepherd puppies. When the parents heard about them, they adopted

the puppies and named them what their two sons wanted to name them. When Samantha shared

this story, the staff knew it was something worth covering. This meant Samantha was in charge

of putting the entire story together. Samantha was hesitant at first. Thankfully ELN had prepared

her and in the end, she felt extremely accomplished.

 Samantha’s key to being a successful intern is to make sure to be “more than” just an

intern. “Don’t think that you're just an intern because, at the end of the day, it’s really up to you

what you want to be,” said Samantha. “I decided to work hard and act like I was apart of the staff

there and they appreciated it.”

Samantha made sure to constantly be the best she could be during her time at WFMZ

which meant coming in early and staying late, constantly asking questions, taking notes and

having a positive attitude. This work ethic truly paid off and Samantha still texts her contacts at

the station.

Samantha not only has ELN to thank for getting her this internship but also for preparing

her. Samantha already knew what she was doing when it came to reporting, editing and writing,

when other interns from other schools had to sit back and learn from scratch. Some actually

thought she was one of the reporters. “Without ELN, I wouldn’t have gotten the internship in the

first place and I wouldn't have been able to be more than an intern, like I wanted to be,” said

Samantha. She was actually able to teach the staff some of the production knowledge she had

learned through ELN, instead of the staff constantly teaching her. The staff were interested in

what she had to say and always willing to give her feedback.

This internship allowed Samantha to gain more experience in the journalism field and

helped prepare her for the real world when she graduates. Samantha continues to use the skills

she learned and was recently selected by news directors at area stations in Burlington to be the

anchor of Elon Local News, which is a huge accomplishment. Samantha’s dream job is to work

as a reporter at a news station in New York City and, after this internship and her work in ELN,

Samantha feels more confident than ever.

 “You know you love your internship when you literally cry saying goodbye to your

advisor,” said Samantha. “I am so glad they decided to

take a chance on me and push me to do some of my best

journalism yet,” said Samantha.