Education in Action

Students from the John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences are taking their education to the next level, building upon foundational skills learned in the classroom and putting them to the test during internships at major companies and foundations.

This past fall, Emily Ellinger ’27, a public relations major with a minor in management, spent her time as a social media and marketing intern at the lifestyle brand Roller Rabbit. In her position, she created in-house content, sourced influencers, engaged with followers on social media, and supported campaigns.

Ellinger gave a shout-out to Fairfield’s Sophomore Success program for providing her with early support in navigating the internship world. “It taught me the importance of not just asking questions, but asking the right questions,” Ellinger said. “I wasn’t expecting to be given so much responsibility as an intern, but I learned how to trust myself.”

Charlie Sweeney ’26, a biology major with minors in health studies and economics, spent his spring semester working with the Hopper-Belmont Foundation (HBF) as an intern. In his role, he helped manage its prestigious Career Development Award given out to researchers and developed weekly content for the Foundation’s social media and website, aimed at the general public.

“This was actually a project that I came up with,” Sweeney said. “It involved finding information from peer-reviewed journals and other credible sources like the National Cancer Institute.” Sweeney also had the opportunity to interview a pancreatic cancer specialist about the challenges with detection and surveillance, as well as current research.

“One of the biggest takeaways from my internship experience has been that communication is key,” Sweeney said, “whether communicating progress updates to fellow interns and supervisors via email or sending messages out to science majors regarding the HBF’s new Student Impact Award.”

Alexa Sewell ’26, a film, television, and media arts major with a minor in communication, spent her spring commuting by train to New York City for an internship with Warner Bros. Discovery as a CNN Podcast Operations and Marketing intern. Sewell tracked CNN podcasts, pulled data for audience analytics, and monitored promotional soundbite metrics across platforms.

“I think the biggest benefit of my internship was the knowledge I gained,” Sewell said. “Nowadays, so many media industry roles overlap. Skills can easily be translated, and I now have skills that I can apply to other opportunities in the future.”

Sewell also found that her classroom experiences were vital to navigating the work of her internship. “The organizational skills, time management, and cross-collaboration on school projects that my classes emphasize helped me prepare well,” she said. Over the summer, Sewell continued building her skills as a video editor intern at David Yurman.

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