An Internship Experience of a Lifetime

Fordham Career Services, located on the second floor of the McGinley Center on the Rose Hill campus, provides the resources and connections to help students take advantage of the countless internship and work opportunities that come with Fordham’s close proximity to New York City! Guest blogger, Brittany Batten (FCRH ’14), heard about a unique opportunity in the Career Services Office and shares her internship experience of a lifetime that followed:

I got out of the subway to see a line wrapping around ABC Studios. I immediately questioned my decision to attend the W-ABC Internship Open House. Hundreds of students stood in line for a 5-minute interview all with the same hope of obtaining an internship at Live! with Kelly and Michael. Needless to say, I was speechless when I found out that, starting in September, I would be a production intern at one of my favorite morning shows for the semester.

Michael Strahan and I started on the same day. I like to think the red carpet laid out for Michael’s debut was for me. The energy in the studio was tremendous as the entire country waited for the announcement of Kelly Ripa’s new co-host. The press filled the studio and producers ran around ensuring that everything was in place for the huge show ahead. My first task was to greet the guests on the show that day. I walked Blake Shelton to his dressing room and delivered Josh Radnor his shoes. It was only my first hour and I had already met two of my favorite celebrities and ushered in reports from TMZ and Entertainment Tonight, all while being in the midst of one of the biggest announcements in daytime entertainment.

Of course, not every aspect of my internship was this glamorous. The first two hours of my ten-hour day were always full of excitement as I helped prepare for and watch the show. The other eight hours were spent in the office where I sorted through ticket requests, organized audience feedback, delivered mail, and answered phone calls. I also worked with producers to put together various segments from time to time and steamed Michael’s suit each morning.

One day, a producer asked me and a few other interns to set up John Travolta’s dressing room for a post-tape, meaning he was coming in to pre-record a segment after the live show. As we struggled to remove the divider in the dressing room, I heard, “What kind of help do they hire here at ABC? Do you guys need a hand?” I turned around to see none other than John Travolta himself. He ended up talking to us for about ten minutes about school, our experience at Live!, and our plans for the future. He also removed the divider in his own dressing room.

I had many memorable moments like this one and was able to meet a lot of cool people while experiencing first-hand what it is like behind the scenes of a renowned morning show. While I loved my experience, it also helped me realize that TV production is not for me. Still, I will always look back fondly on my time at Live! with Kelly and Michael and I feel tremendously lucky to have had this opportunity.