Whether cruising in a submarine, shaking hands with the U.S. vice president or building a web show in MTV’s New York City office, summer internships can be the opportunity of a lifetime.

LaMicha Jackson, international business junior, interned with the U.S. Navy this summer. Her summer adventures ranged from flying in a helicopter, firing weapons and riding in a submarine on her birthday. Jackson said her most memorable experience was flying a T-34 aircraft by herself.

“That was incredible. We did barrel rolls and sharp turns, so we had about two or three G-forces acting on us,” Jackson said.

Jackson believes that her Loyola education enabled her to think critically, particularly during her Somali immersion training. Jackson said everyone was split into different teams and was given rifles loaded with paint bullets. They had to formulate a plan to kill all snipers while keeping their team safe, Jackson said.

With the chaos of yelling, carrying injured or ‘dead’ team members, explosions and numerous weapons being fired, along with a captain and five or six sergeants yelling at us, this was an experience for the books,” Jackson said.

Jackson said she was shot twice in the exercise, but she still managed to “kill” three snipers. Jackson finished off by carrying out a wounded teammate, all without “dying” during the training. A major recognized her group as the best fire team, but Jackson gained more than an award.

“So much respect was gained for not only the Marines, but also all troops who go through land and hand to hand combat,” Jackson said.

Like Jackson, Alden Woodhull, mass communication and Spanish senior, said she strengthened her sense of pride for her country through her summer internship. Instead of taking on her usual summer waitressing job in her hometown of Washington, D.C., Woodhull ditched the apron and embarked on an adventure at the White House as an intern in the vice president’s press office.

“I realized that this internship encompassed so much of what I’m passionate about,” Woodhull said. “It allowed me to work in my field of study with communications and media relations.”

Woodhull said she enjoyed meeting Vice President Joe Biden and said that he even spared time to talk to the interns who worked in his office. Any time she got to listen to the vice president was a “good day,” Woodhull said.

“He speaks with so much poise but is so genuine at the same time. The two most moving speeches that I heard in person were his calls to action for mental health care and gun safety in our country,” Woodhull said.

Woodhull said she believes that her mass communication education was able to give her an upper hand during her internship. She felt confident about her writing and learned things that added to her previous social media knowledge.

“Having taken Professor Nelson’s Social Media Strategies class, I already had background on social media analysis and was thereby able to get so much more out of the experience,” Woodhull said.

Woodhull feels honored to have had the privilege of interning at the White House.

“I know what a rare and special opportunity it is to walk onto the White House grounds every day, and I feel so fortunate to have been able to been a part of this amazing and historic administration,” Woodhull said.

Bryan Mooney, music industry senior, said he had his sights set on a “different” kind of summer internship. He was interested in Viacom International Inc., a media company that owns various television networks and film studios ranging from VH1 to MTV. After seeing what the company had to offer, Mooney said MTV seemed like the “perfect” placement.

“When I applied to Viacom, my interest was focused on MTV, because I feel that it is more closely tied to the music industry than many of Viacom’s other brands,” Mooney said.

As a product development intern, Mooney’s main objective was to design strategies and campaigns to attract more online engagement. His coworkers started a weekly live-streamed music and comedy show out of their office called “Streamed Dumplings” that he soon became involved with along with co-worker Ralph Bishop.

“This began as a test of the company’s live streaming technology,” Mooney said. “They decided to turn it into a program after Ralph ate a banana at his desk on the live stream and was encouraged by viewers to eat a second.”

After that moment, Mooney started handling the booking and engagement strategy for “Streamed Dumplings.” Their production value has increased since.

As for celebrities, Mooney says he occasionally bumped into a few around the MTV office, but being starstruck isn’t in his nature.

“Celebrities are just people, and I can’t say that there are many people I would really freak out over meeting. Unrelated to MTV, my friend and I chatted with Aziz Ansari the other night – he was pretty cool,” Mooney said.

Jackson, Woodhull and Mooney said they all gained new knowledge in their particular field of study, along with special memories that they’ll not soon forget. Whether it’s flying an aircraft, listening to a speech from our nation’s Vice President, or working with a major media company, there is no predicting what Loyola students can experience through a summer internship.

Diana Mirfiq can be reached at [email protected] 

Alden Woodhull called the White House her office for the summer. She worked as a communications intern in the Vice President’s press office. (Courtesy of Alden Woodhull)

Bryan Mooney sits alongside a stuffed banana. This became a mascot for him and his MTV co-workers as they worked on their web show. (Courtesy of Bryan Mooney)