Internships offer experience

By Jennifer Kanne

They stepped into corporate positions in and out of the Bay area to beef up their resumes and earn enough to purchase new textbooks for fall quarter.

Internships helped students discern whether or not real-life application of their field of study is something they enjoy.

Senior Matt Hodson worked as a media relations intern for the Oakland A's. Although the job didn't pay exceptionally well, Hodson took it "for the experience." He arrived at the ballpark four hours prior to the first pitch on gamedays. Hodson was in charge of setting up the press box, passing out game notes to reporters and providing statistics to the announcer.

"I was the media's link to know what was going on in the game," Hodson said.

An English major who intends to work in the front office of a major league baseball team, Hodson especially enjoyed seeing the post-game notes he penned appear in the newspaper.

"I would have done it for free," Hodson said.

Senior Debbie Zabala worked in the Planning and Distribution Department of Gap, Inc.'s corporate office in San Francisco.

"I got a corporate view of the company and the interns all got to meet the CEO," Zabala said. "Plus I got tons of free stuff."

Zabala liked the hands-on experience of overseeing product distribution from the time clothing was produced abroad until it hit U.S. stores. Although Zabala said that her summer internship helped her to see that it's probably not the direction she would like her career to take, she understands the importance of this knowledge.

Well-paid and still working part time for the company, Zabala hopes that having the Gap on her resume will help her secure a job in the retail industry after graduation.

Senior computer engineering major Justin Lent found an internship via the Internet at a small Mountain View company called Computer Graphics Systems Development. Lent assisted in the development of software used for virtual reality simulators. He programmed a three-dimensional building database that can be used to generate an infinite number of buildings for computer games, driving simulators or flight simulators. A demo version of the product he helped developed is on the market now, and the final product will be out in a few months.

"I learned how to work with a group of people all striving toward accomplishing one goal," Lent said.

Lent counted his trip to Los Angeles to attend the largest computer graphics convention in the world as one of the best perks of the job. Although his pay was augmented by bonuses for projects completed early, Lent said he felt isolated at work.

"For half the day I was on my own, there was not too much human interaction," Lent said.Senior marketing major Jessica Hoffman interned at the Gymboree corporate office in Burlingame. Part of the marketing team for young girls' clothing, Hoffman said that her job offered total exposure to every aspect of a corporate retail environment.

She interviewed for the job through the Retail Management Institute on campus. Hoffman's responsibilities included "competitive shopping" and "inspirational shopping."

Her job was partly to "get a feel for what the new trends are" by cruising around Berkeley and other teen hangouts to observe popular colors and fashion trends. She also helped select Gymboree's spring line of girls' clothes.

"I always thought it [marketing] was something I wanted to do and this experience reinforced that," Hoffman said.