Originally from Stamford, Connecticut, Diego Caro ’17 found a perfect place at NBC Sports Group, where he’s gaining the hands-on experience needed for the field. President of Delta Kappa Epsilon and former President of the InterFraternity Council (IFC), Caro is also a member of the Order of Omega—Greek Leadership Honor Society, and on the Dean’s List.

Where are you currently interning?
Have you had any other internships previously? I am currently interning at NBC Sports Group in Stamford, CT as a Marketing Operations Intern. This is actually my second semester interning here. Prior to my senior year, I also interned with NBCUniversal as a broadcast operations intern with the Jerry Springer Show and Steve Wilkos Show.

What have you been working on at your internship?
I focus primarily on logging and reporting cue sheet information for all departmental promotions. This allows the company to compensate all the composers and publishers for the music we use as part of our promos. I also assist the marketing department with logistics by completing various tasks on a week-to-week basis. I’d say that the majority of the work I do is “behind the scenes work” for the promotions that air on NBC and NBCSN.

Do you believe your internship experience has helped to prepare you for your future?
Without a doubt, my internship experience has certainly prepared me for the future. It’s opened my eyes to an industry I knew very little about before. I’ve learned so much and have built great relationships with my co-workers. It’s taught me the importance of networking, and also how to properly conduct myself in a corporate setting. It’s also taught me how to better manage my time, meet deadlines, and just work hard overall. Whether it’s a big or small task I always push myself to produce the best quality of work because employers take note of that.

Any advice for other Lubin students looking for internships?
I can’t stress the importance of networking. I’m sure it’s a term highly overstated but it really is crucial in any field. Every job I’ve ever had has come from networking and just knowing someone already in the company. Another piece of advice is also to not feel discouraged when you don’t hear back from an employer or don’t get the job at first. Use every career fair, phone call, and interview as a learning experience…you really do learn something different each time. Coming from personal experience, you will feel so much more confident and relaxed after the sixth or seventh interview you’ve been to, as opposed to the first.

In a few sentences, describe the best thing about your internship.
The best thing about my internship is working for a network that has such a huge influence in the sports industry. I’ve always loved to play and watch sports so being able to work for a company that brings the thrill of sports to millions of people across the country is truly amazing. Being in an environment where one day you’re working on Sunday Night Football content, and the next day on the Olympics, is actually a dream come true.

Amber Borrero ’17, a recent communications graduate on the Pleasantville Campus, was a creative student and mentor during her time at Pace, finding ways to help students get involved on campus through organizations such as the AALANA program, Orientation Leaders, and Student Government Association. Borrero applied those skills as an intern for the creatives team at TMPG, an independent marketing company in White Plains, NY, that bridges the worlds of radio, promotions, digital, and new media through innovative programs. TMPG’s clients include Burger King, Coppertone, Dell, Lifetime, Kraft, and more.

In this Q&A with Borrero, get an inside look at what it’s like to intern at an award-winning marketing company, find out how she landed the internship, and learn her advice for students interested in interning.

Internship: Creatives team intern for TMPG in White Plains
How was the internship obtained? Through Career Services
Most valuable takeaway: “I never realized what the steps were behind promoting a product.”
Biggest piece of advice to aspiring interns: “You never know until you try. I am a communications major and never thought that I would be working as a marketing intern.”

How was your overall experience interning for TMPG?
I loved working at TMPG last semester! The people were friendly, and the environment in the office definitely had personality. I worked as an intern for college credit as part of their creatives team. I was in charge of researching data for their social media sites and editing the PowerPoints they have done for their promotions plan. I also pitched ideas they could use to promote products with their clients.

How did Career Services help you land this internship?
I spoke to Nicole Catalfamo, assistant director of Dyson programs and services in Career Services on the Pleasantville Campus, about looking for an internship. She said I would be perfect for this job, so I e-mailed TMPG my resume, got called for an interview, and was hired on the spot.

What was one of the most memorable moments at your internship?
One of the most memorable moments at my internship was when I provided creative ideas toward one of their projects that I was passionate about. One of TMPG's clients, the Trevor Project, needed help promoting a product. The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ young people ages 13–24. I had a lot of fun helping my supervisor come up with unique and creative ideas on how to promote through social media and in the city. I was also in charge of researching fun facts, motivational quotes, and current events on media and ad revenue. It was cool to look at their social media and say, "Hey, that was my work!”

How has the Pace Path helped you in regard to this internship opportunity?
The Pace Path has definitely helped make connections in order to get this internship. I learned making connections is one of the most important things you can do when trying to look for a job. My supervisor actually graduated from Pace University and was roommates with one of my chapter founders for my sorority.

How has this internship shaped you for the future?
If I ever work for another marketing firm in the future, I now have the experience in the marketing field thanks to TMPG.

As a member of Pace’s Cross Country team during his time as an undergraduate, Nick Porretta ’17 understands the value of endurance. Similarly, during his time as a nursing student in the College of Health Professions, he has also gone the extra mile. From participating in world-class clinical rotations to establishing a solid blueprint for future career success, Porretta is ready to embark on the long-distance race that more commonly referred to as life after college.

“A great Pace perk is that, in my four years here, I’ve lived the best of both worlds. I have taken classes on both campuses, done clinical rotations throughout the Westchester and New York City area, and enjoyed the pleasures of exploring and experiencing city and suburban life,” says Porretta.

Locally Porretta participated in clinical rotations at NewYork Persbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center and Manhattan VA Medical Center, where he garnered essential on-the-job training that will help him be adequately prepared for any kind of medical emergency. All in all, Porretta participated in an extremely impressive ten clinicals, some of which involved considerable travel—including a particularly eye-opening experience in India.

Working in a small village along the Himalayan foothills through an internship with the nonprofit Child Family Health International, Porretta assisted in providing valuable services to the under-served population living in the rural, mountainous community. Three days a week, alongside doctors, staff, and several Pace faculty members, Porretta and his team operated a clinic to anyone who sought medical assistance. The rest of the time, staff would travel to nearby villages to set up health camps complete with the necessary medical equipment and medications needed to assess, diagnose, and treat patients.

Porretta recounts one anecdote from the trip that particularly stuck with him, and has inspired him to continue to provide aid and assistance wherever he possibly can.

“One day I was walking back from one of these health camp visits, and I encountered a young boy sitting at the bottom of the sloped pathway with a bundle of wood tied on the ground before him. With the help of the doctor as a translator, I asked the boy if I could carry the wood up the hill for him; he agreed and aided with positioning the bundle on my shoulder. With great effort and strength, I was able to complete the task, but this wasn’t without some assistance and soreness afterwards. Next, I watched this boy—half my height and half my age—effortlessly pick up this bundle and continue to carry the bundle atop his head to his home. My whole experience in India was truly humbling, enlightening, and inspirational,” says Porretta.

Back on campus, Porretta continued to hone his personal and professional skill set through both the classroom setting and extracurricular activities. As a four-year member of the cross-country team, he traveled all over the northeast to compete. Along the way, he learned the importance of properly managing his time, as well as the benefits of working together cohesively as a team, even in a sport that’s individualistic in nature.

In the classroom, Porretta was able to make connections with Pace faculty members in a way a school with larger class sizes may not be able to manage. He particularly cites nurse education professor Yanick Martelly-Kebreau as being instrumental to his undergraduate experience, helping him fully understand the value of his Pace education.

“During my semesters with Martelly-Kebreau, I came to face some difficulties in my personal life, and these difficulties were starting to affect my focus and performance in school and in clinical. One day she told me that ‘Education is your greatest investment; nobody and nothing can take that away from you. Focus on yourself and your studies.’ She had great faith in me, and she helped to instill a renewed sense of purpose and confidence in myself.”

As Porretta readies himself for the “real world,” he can safely say that whatever personal or professional obstacle may come his way, his time at Pace will help him take any future challenge in stride.

BriAnna DellaSala ’17, a marketing student in the Pforzheimer Honors College and president of Profashionals, has combined her creative and analytical skills in more than eight internships at prestigious companies across the city, each helping her get one step closer to her dream of working in the fashion industry.

“I live by a quote about fear that explains how an action doesn’t hold you back, but the fear of the action will,” DellaSala says. “I try to always go after what I am afraid of doing, and then you find that it wasn’t that big of a deal in the first place.”

Even as a senior in high school, DellaSala knew she was ready to fearlessly conquer city life, only applying to schools in Boston and NYC. Though she said she was leaning toward Pace based on its strong business program, she was sold the day she toured campus.

“When I toured Pace, my guide went on and on about all the great internships here, and I knew that I really wanted to intern in college so it seemed like the perfect opportunity,” DellaSala says. “I also really loved the campus and how it wasn’t a traditional college setting, because I am not a traditional person.”

Because Pace is placed in the heart of downtown Manhattan, DellaSala loved the idea of being on her own, owning the city, and forging a path in fashion.

Growing up, DellaSala always had a flair for fashion, obsessing over the fashion-focused TV series Ugly Betty, envisioning herself as the assistant to a major fashion editor like Andy in The Devil Wears Prada, and standing out from the other kids with her unique clothing choices.

“I loved fashion, but I knew I wasn’t good enough at drawing to go the design route,” DellaSala says. “But I knew that I was a really good businesswoman. My dad is in finance and I can negotiate with him really well, so I knew I had that business mind with math and management.”

While she built on her analytics, finance, and marketing skills in the classroom, DellaSala began dipping her toes in the fashion mecca that is New York City by joining Pace’s former fashion club, Styleta, and networking with people who shared her same interests.

There, she met Cindy Nguyen ’16, who asked DellaSala to join the executive board of Pace’s current fashion group, Profashionals, which stitches together a community of students looking to land their dream internships and careers in the fashion world through events, networking, informative meetings, and more.

While working to get Profashionals up and running for other students to find success in fashion, DellaSala wasted no time kicking off her own journey into the industry, interning with the online boutique Lux and Eco during the summer after her freshman year. As an assistant buyer intern, she singlehandedly picked many of the clothing and accessories the company sold on their site, and after three months, she was hired on as a part-time fashion buyer while still maintaining her good grades.

“I didn’t know it then, but I realized I want to do buying for my career,” DellaSala says. “That is why interning has been so important to me, because I was able to figure out what I do and don’t like. As a marketing student I am learning the material in class, but through internships I can apply and experience marketing of all types and learn what I like.”

Her next internship was found through her organizing of and attendance at the Profashionals event, Dress for Success, which brings together a panel of fashion professionals for students to learn from and interact with. She walked up to a woman from the marketing department of Cosmopolitan magazine, introduced herself, and expressed her interest in interning at the magazine.

From networking with the woman, DellaSala scored her internship in the fast-paced fashion closet of Cosmopolitan and Seventeen, checking in samples, running around the city, and organizing the closet covered in designer clothes.

Next, she tried other facets of fashion, working in the fashion closet of American fashion designer Michael Kors and completing a sales internship for another American designer, Zac Posen.

During the fall of her senior year, DellaSala was offered an opportunity she couldn’t resist, as it combined her passion for marketing, analytics, and fashion into one unique opportunity in merchandising at Salvatore Ferragamo. As an intern in the men’s department, she worked as an assistant merchandiser and assistant buyer.

“I absolutely loved it, and I am obsessed with the company,” DellaSala said. “I made graphs that the CEO presented in meetings, and created the trend reports that went to every Ferragamo store.”

DellaSala loved the opportunity so much that she is working with Ferragamo through the spring semester in the women’s merchandising department.

When she’s not busy at her internship or being the president of Profashionals, DellaSala is working on her thesis that compares how older luxury brands conduct their brand management and marketing in comparison to newer luxury brands, and what each could learn from the other.

As for her next steps after graduation, DellaSala scored a position at Salvatore Ferragamo as a buyer for women's accessories and fragrance.

“Pace has allowed me to be in the perfect location and in the center of it all,” DellaSala says. “I bounced around a lot in the fashion industry and was able to try as many things as possible within my interest to find what I enjoy most.”

At Pace, Elliana Gianacopoulos ’18 has taken on as many leadership opportunities as possible to give back to her community through mentoring underclassmen, volunteering in hospitals, helping the underprivileged in the community, and guiding her peers and herself toward success.

“I chose Pace University because I was in love with NYC and the downtown area,” she says. “Pace offered me generous scholarships, which made it that much easier to say yes. I was pretty set on attending Pace right off the bat, and I knew I would be coming here after my first visit in junior year of high school.”

As a biology student and aspiring medical student, Gianacopoulos is taking advantage of opportunities outside and inside of the classroom by connecting with professors and participating in medical research.

“Pace’s small biology program spoils the students with incredibly supportive and open relationships between the professors and students,” she says. “Every professor knows our names and is willing to help us succeed. As a freshman I was able to begin researching with an incredible mentor, Marcy Kelly. This is something I am sure I would not have been able to do at another, bigger university.”

Currently, Gianacopoulos is conducting cutting-edge research on Mycobacterium bovis (BCG), the current vaccine for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, alongside biology professor Marcy Kelly, PhD.

“Working with Dr. Kelly has helped me grow both as a student and as a person,” Gianacopoulos says. “I am constantly being taught how to push my curiosity and thirst for learning to the max, and how I can best manifest my desire to help people in this world.”

Last year she was awarded a Provost Undergraduate Research Grant to continue her work with Kelly, and won first place at the end of year showcase with a $2,000 scholarship to present their work at a national conference.

In addition to her research, Gianacopoulos is a member of the Pforzheimer Honors College and Tri-Beta Biology Honor Society, biology discussion group peer leader, Dean’s List first honors recipient, and currently serves as the president of Pace’s Pre-Professional Medical Society (PPMS), whose members host events that help science students find their passion and show them the many opportunities in the STEM and health fields.

It all started with a Razor scooter for communications student Andre Arias ’18. His aunt, a world-traveling sports journalist, returned home from a work trip abroad with the toy for Arias one Christmas, putting the coveted scooter in his hands before all other American kids his age. And his interest and experience in the communications field has only grown since then.

Arias is an active member of the Pace Community who has served as a UNV101 peer leader, worked on student engagement for Dyson’s Center for Community Action and Research, helped win a Distinguished Delegation award for Pleasantville’s Model United Nations team at the 2015 National Model UN Conference, and more. On top of it all, he’s taken up to 25 credits some semesters. But he’s putting most of that on hold now in order to gain a new kind of experience—a production internship at Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on TBS.

Serious about his career path and how to get there, Arias kept a tight schedule during his freshman and sophomore years in preparation for a future internship. “For me, I plan a lot ahead of time. So I had planned my Pace Path way before I even came to Pace. I knew that when I got to be a junior, I was going to have an internship. I think the Pace Path helps students to do what I did on my own,” he says.

In addition to putting in some extra credits in the classroom and face time into campus activities and organizations early on, one of the other ways he continues to try to get ahead is by checking in regularly with Career Service and his adviser Carol Dockery, who he praises for her support. Arias found his internship at Samantha Bee through Handshake, Career Services’ job and internship listing database, and applied to roughly 25 positions before starting his role at the show.

While he can’t elaborate on exactly what he does as a production intern at Samantha Bee, Arias does say that he’s heavily involved in the making of the show and gets to interact regularly with Samantha herself. So far, the show has been exactly what he hoped for in terms of gaining real world experience. “Especially in my field of communications, that’s all experience. I feel it’s important and hard to be learned behind a desk,” he says.

For example, Arias says he understands just how important a good resume can be when it comes to obtaining future career opportunities over fierce competition in the communications field. Not only that, but creating a resume early in a college career is good experience for other students in other disciplines as well. “I think for a lot of students, it allows you to actually see and reflect on your work experience,” he says.

Though his internship is a top priority these days, this go-getter Setter is keeping involved on campus and in politics, another interest of his, and is active in Student Government Association on the Westchester Campus. He’s also got his eye on the prize when it comes to sports journalism, hoping to cover the Rio Olympics, following in the footsteps of his jet-setting aunt.

Film is a notoriously tough industry to break into. Many actors, writers, and directors spend years—if not decades—desperately trying to bring their artistic vision to the world.

Noura Boustany Jost ’18 isn’t interested in being constrained by that timeline.

At just 20, she already has multiple serious film credits, and has put together a resume that very much indicates that she’s just getting started.

A sophomore working on a dual degree in entrepreneurship and film, television, voice-overs, and commercials (FTVC), Jost spent her freshman year working on a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) short film that she wrote, produced, directed, and starred in. The Tattoo, which chronicles the story of Jost’s Lily, is set in an alternative universe where each citizen has a tattoo that matches that of their soulmate. Lily however, is in love with someone with a different tattoo, and thus must choose between conforming to societal standards and expressing her individuality.

Jost noted that the inspiration for the film was rooted in very pertinent, ongoing social justice issues.

“It was a metaphor for the LGBTQ movement,” says Jost. “(Lily) was a female, so the whole point is that it’s ok to not choose the path that people might want you to choose.”

From the scope of her work, it’s clear that Jost is intent on using film to promote societal good. One of her upcoming projects, Trafficked, deals with the story of a female sex trafficking victim.

“I want to create movies that say something, which is why that movie about sex trafficking is important,” Jost says. “I think it’s important that people see that because it helps our generation understand how we can build a better future.”

Although incredibly ambitious in her own right, she has drawn upon the many resources offered at Pace to help realize her goals. Jost is a member of the Pace Student Film Club, which has been a crucial component of her collegiate experience thus far. During the filming of The Tattoo, an equipment snafu set the production timeline in disarray—but the Pace-based crew rose to the occasion.

“We lost two hours. I had to collect a team of people who had to do twice the amount of work,” she says. “There’s no way I could’ve made that movie without Pace teaching me how to be a good manager.”

As for the future, Jost is intent on building on the momentum she’s already created. In addition to Trafficked, Jost has been hired to cast multiple productions—including the web series, The Hipster Show, and the short film, First Time for Everything. She’s also been working quite a bit in the writing arena, partnering with Girl Be Heard—a nonprofit, social justice-minded theater company—to write pieces that “approach jarring subjects in our modern world.”

In addition to her work in film, Jost has taken her creative talents to the realm of poetry. Most recently, Jost published When the World Turns the Wrong Way, a collection of poems that tackles depression, anxiety, and sexual assault.

While Jost will likely stay busy over the course of the next few years, she will always have a home at Pace—which she feels stands out from other universities due to both the mindfulness level and caliber of student.

“I chose Pace entirely because of the people I met here. I didn’t know what I wanted out of college, but I knew I wanted to be in New York, and I knew I wanted to be around people who were happy.”

College can often seem like a hectic and confusing checklist—you pick your major, you join a few clubs, maybe you travel if you have the opportunity. Sometimes, building a cohesive portfolio can be intimidating to say the least.

Ali Phelan ’18, an economics major and peace and justice studies and global non-profit minor, is not interested in being intimidated.

Phelan initially chose Pace because of the boundless networking and professional possibilities offered by studying in downtown New York City. From there, she was able to narrow her academic focus, and chose major and minors that were directly related to her ultimate goal of working in the international non-profit sector.

Phelan didn’t stop at that.

“I wanted to be involved in international non-profit, aid work, volunteering abroad—and figure out what aspect of that I was interested in. I wanted to see if I can handle working abroad in sometimes adverse conditions.”

Phelan then took matters into her own hands. She decided to spend her winter break in Muizenberg, South Africa, where she participated in a childcare and teaching program offered by an organization called International Volunteer Headquarters.

Through the volunteer program, she was able to put her interests and classroom knowledge to action.

“It was a great introduction to volunteering and working abroad,” says Phelan. “We were working Monday through Friday from about 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the daycare centers, teaching centers, and primary schools, with children who have come from some very difficult backgrounds. At orientation we learned all of the children had been through either the presence of drug and alcohol abuse, abuse, violence, death—very difficult backgrounds.”

The experience proved to be invaluable for Phelan. Not only was she able to gain the type of knowledge that only comes from putting oneself in real-life situations (for instance, she now knows she’s most interested in working with children ages 6–12, something she would not have known had she spent winter break watching Netflix)—but through communicating, networking, and further honing her existing skills, Phelan has been able to further narrow her focus, and has continued making great strides along her own Pace Path.

This semester, for instance, Phelan is actively striving to delve deeper into the business side of international non-profits. In addition to taking classes focusing on global politics and humanitarian and international aid work, Phelan is also in the midst of an internship at the Hunger Project, a non-profit focused on sustainably eradicating world hunger.

“My position there is in grants and restricted funds. I’m doing a lot of investor reports, budget allocating, really learning about the funding behind non-profits and working internationally with their teams. One of my goals for the internship was to really figure out more about the funding of non-profits, how they get their money, who gives them money, because that’s something you really need to understand and it’s exactly what I’m learning right now.”

Just going into her junior year, Phelan has two more years at Pace. But by actively seeking out opportunities related to her area of study and career goals, she’s already created a world of opportunity.

Ava Posner '18 knows the code to achieving her goal of working at a leading tech startup is to be fearless, take risks, and keep pursuing new opportunities. That’s why the information technology major focused in software engineering follows this one simple phrase—“Just do it.”

“No matter the risk, no matter the fail, no matter the goal, you just have to do it,” she says. “I’ve always told myself to not just dip my toes into the water, but to dive into the deep end because everything is a learning process.”

As an active member of the Seidenberg community on the New York City Campus, Posner has worked as a recruitment ambassador, project manager for Seidenberg Creative Labs, assistant program coordinator for strategic initiatives, student office manager, and as an assistant camp coordinator for STEM Collaboratory and Seidenberg Summer Scholars.

At the student-run Seidenberg Creative Labs, she oversaw a team of developers and designers for all web and mobile app projects and developed incident reporting and security apps, among other innovative projects.

“The powerful opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of many, empower them, and make them feel safer is an unmatched experience that will stay with me forever,” Posner says.

Through support from her many mentors at Seidenberg, she says her ability to excel in the classroom and the workplace was made easier.

“I can’t think of a person in Seidenberg who hasn’t helped me in the past,” she says. “They are all willing to go the extra mile to help me and other students understand concepts in class, lend a helpful ear when dealing with a personal problem, and help me broaden my network of professionals.”

In a field heavily dominated by men, Posner is passionate about making a mark on the industry and motivating other women to do the same in her role as a leader of Pace’s Women In Technology Lean In Circle, which provides mentorships and networking opportunities for students at Pace. Posner said her goal for the upcoming academic year is to make the Lean In group a University-recognized club and raise enough funds for members to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing—the world's largest gathering of women technologists.

Traveling to technology conferences is one of Posner’s greatest passions. In May, she ventured to Europe to watch Seidenberg’s team InfiniD present its 3D imager marketing project at Product Innovation Project in Graz, Austria—a challenge through which student teams work on tasks given by an industrial partner and use knowledge and soft skills to find tools and methods to resolve the given task. She is looking forward to being a part of next year’s team and showcasing a new project they’ll be working on throughout the school year.

For a change of pace from the tech world, Posner spent the month of August studying biology and art in Costa Rica as part of a nine-credit research class that transitions back onto the New York City Campus and continues through the fall.

Though she loves exploring technology across the world, Posner says she cannot imagine attending any other university or living outside of the city, especially after growing up across the river in Rutherford, New Jersey.

“It’s all about location, location, location, and Pace offers a campus that places students in New York City and gives them hands-on experience in the industry or career of their choice,” she says. “Seidenberg has definitely prepared me to be in the tech field, and because we are in Silicon Alley, students like me are able to get the greatest opportunities.”