(This is the fourth in a series of stories about students from the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications completing summer internships.)
Summer is an ideal time for students to get real-world experience through internships without having to balance classes, and one Penn State Bellisario College of Communications student has made the most of her free time to take on three internships this summer.
Catherine Cao, a rising sophomore from South Setauket, New York, doesn’t spend her summer days on the beach. She spends them working at her desk.
“It was just me wanting to take advantage and find positive in all this craziness and just try to get as much experience as I could out of my summer,” Cao said.
The film major is working for two production companies, Red Fort Productions and Arachnid Films. Cao spends her work hours reviewing scripts, writing emails and learning about post-production work.
However, Cao also has other interests she wanted to explore this summer to complement her major. So, she’s exploring digital marketing as well. Three days a week for seven hours each day Cao works at internship for a non-profit organization, Community Development Corp. of Long Island (CDCLI).
The non-profit helps Long Island residents find affordable housing and maintain vibrant, equitable and sustainable communities. Cao is helping them this summer by spreading the word about what they do and recruiting more people to get involved with the organization.
Cao said even though her working days are long — and sometimes spill into the night — it doesn’t bother her because she is doing something she loves.