Colgate students launch Summer 2013 internship blog series

Back to All Stories
CNBC's Colgate interns and mentors

(From left to right) Vildana Hajric ’11, Mike Newberg ’11, Paul Toscano ’07, Natalie Sportelli ’15, and Josh Lipton ’97 stand in the CNBC newsroom. (Photo by Adam Jeffrey)

Colgate students, interning this summer at companies such as NBCUniversal, Hukkster, Nike, and Facebook, are sharing their experiences. Natalie Sportelli ’15 is working at CNBC.com.

With the help of the Center for Career Services, Colgate students have taken notice of how internships are vital for preparing to enter the real world. They are applying for summer positions at organizations of their choice — in America’s most influential and exciting industries.

Last summer, as a rising sophomore, I got a head start on gaining work experience when I was fortunate enough to be hired as an intern in the Colgate communications office. I stayed on as an intern this past academic year and will continue to intern for and contribute to the Colgate Scene and colgate.edu in the fall.

Now a rising junior, I am excited to be an intern with NBCUniversal this summer, working at CNBC as part of the CNBC.com editorial news team. Some of my responsibilities include updating the website with new market information and templating wire stories in CNBC format and style. I attend news meetings every day to learn about the story lineup. Additionally, I am part of the team that monitors news wires, finding and breaking major business news stories. In the coming weeks, I will also be assigned articles to write for CNBC.com.

CNBC’s global headquarters is located in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., but I am living in the Upper East Side of Manhattan with my roommate, Alex Petrini ’14, who is working as a marketing intern at OneWire, a financial headhunting company.

Talking with CNBC producer Paul Toscano ’07 about anything from working in news to shuttle schedules, as well as working alongside three other Colgate alumni and one current student (also an intern in the newsroom), has made my transition to New York and the work environment remarkably smooth as well as incredibly fun.

I hope to enter the realm of news and journalism after graduation. Gaining experience writing news and working in a newsroom have been instrumental to developing the skills I will need when I apply for a job after graduation.

My summer at CNBC has been and will surely continue to contribute to my growth as a young professional and help me prepare for the — increasingly less scary — Real World.

With the help of the university’s remarkable alumni network, Colgate’s Center for Career Services helps hundreds of undergraduates find invaluable internships each summer. For more information on the center and its efforts on behalf of Colgate students, visit colgate.edu/careerservices.