An Olympic Opportunity

Great news! This morning, I confirmed with NBC News that Park is one of the few schools in the country that has been invited to send interns to the Winter Olympics in Turino, Italy, in February 2006.

You'd join about 90 other interns, live in the Olympic Village; participate in a special speakers series presenting journalists and athletes; spend a day on a Greek Island cruise; have lunch with an Olympic athlete....and work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. For free (it's that internship thing).

Interested? You'll need to start planning now.

You'd be in Italy for seven weeks in January and February 2006. That means you need to talk to your faculty and adviser to plan your course schedules from now until you graduate. You may need to consider summer, interim and mini-courses in order to avoid falling behind on your credits. And you may want to develop a larger program of courses/independent study/internships around the Olympics experience.

You will also need to start saving; the program isn't free.

NBC will cover the cost of one internship credit for each student; any credits beyond that would be your responsibility.

In addition, NBC will subsidize housing (the NBC rep said she hopes that it will be cost-free to students since Turino is less expensive and you would be living in the Olympic Village; that said, students in Athens had to stay in a hotel and paid for half of their housing costs, which came to$60/night).

If you're working on events involving catering, NBC will feed you; the rest of the time, you'd have to buy your own food. And you'd also have to pay for your own airfare, though NBC will help coordinate your travel.

In total, Susan estimates that the cost to an individual student could be about $2500.

In exchange, you will be part of the Olympics, develop great networks, build your resume, and have a life-changing experience...not to mention that NBC actually hired one of the interns from last year, who is now working on the Olympics as a full-time job.

Students who participated last year said this about the experience:

"By far the greatest month and experience of my life...I learned a lot and had my fair share of fun, too."

"The internship was an unforgettable experience. I had the time of my life!"

"Truly the greatest experience of my life. My presence with the crew was nothing short of amazing. The crew treated me not as an intern but as an important member of the staff, with equally important responsibilities and duties. The experience I gained is absolutely, positively unmatched..."

Susan and her staff will be on campus to talk with interested students in March -- the tentative date we've set is March 23. I'll keep you posted.

Dianne