Amanda Wijangco
Graduation Year: May 2017
Major: News-Editorial Journalism
Campus Activities
- Illio Yearbook (assistant writing editor)
Twitter
@amanda_carmela
LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/acwijangco/en
Internship: University of Illinois Correspondent with Gymnastike
Gymnastike
What were your duties?
My duties as the University of Illinois correspondent were to cover the University of Illinois women's gymnastics team and its season through articles and videos. I also had to cover at least two home meets, which involved writing a meet preview and recap, filming the meet's routines and conducting post-meet interviews. There are two required video features, a meet the team video and a Workout Wednesday. Meet the team is a simple feature where fans can get to know the gymnasts, while Workout Wednesday is about a five-minute-long video that tells the story of a practice.
What did you most enjoy about your internship?
What I most enjoyed about my internship was getting a closer look at the women's gymnastics team and getting to know the gymnasts and coaching staff. I attended practice at least once a week and interviewed some of the same gymnasts multiple times, so I got to know a little bit about the person behind the gymnastics, which makes interviews easier and more comfortable for both the interviewer and the interviewee.
What was the most difficult aspect of the internship?
The most difficult aspect of the internship was trying to make meet previews and recaps unique and different from the typical "who, what, when, where, why." It was sometimes challenging to find something special about a meet that made it different from the rest, especially since gymnastics is quite unique compared to other college sports. With gymnastics, it's not easy to come up with different questions or get different answers when interviewing for meet previews and recaps. A lot of collegiate gymnastics is focusing on details in each and every meet, and a team doesn't necessarily need to win meets to be successful and reach postseason.
How did your experience at ILLINOIS and in the College of Media prepare you for your internship?
My experience at Illinois and in the College of Media helped prepare me for my internship by refining my interviewing and writing skills. Learning about different forms of media was also helpful since the internship was more focused on video than writing.
How has your internship prepared you for a career?
My internship has prepared me for a career by utilizing a plethora of skills, such as interviewing, writing, filming and editing, that can be applied in various careers. It also prepared me by simulating the role of a beat reporter. I covered one team and interviewed the gymnasts and coaches at least once a week during the season, as a beat reporter for a newspaper would do.
What recommendations do you have for other students about doing an internship?
Doing an internship allows students to not only make connections and learn/apply new skills, but it also allows students to refine and improve the skills they already posses. This internship dealt with a lot of video, so I had the opportunity to learn more in depth about what video entails and what makes a good video feature.
Internships can also lead to future opportunities with the company you're an intern for. After this internship, Gymnastike provided me with an opportunity to help them with their coverage of the Secret U.S. Classic, one of the biggest elite gymnastics