Ambitious young professionals are stepping up and chasing after their goals before they even leave college. Juggling school, work and social lives, Biola undergrads are already making a name for themselves in their field of study. Four insightful students share their stories and offer advice for those who want to get a head start on their career.

Hannah Caprara, senior
Journalism major
Intern || MILK Studios

What do you do on a daily basis?

“On a daily basis we build jobs for the studios. Clients will rent out equipment, so we put that equipment together, make sure everything is in working order, that it looks perfect, and send it into the studios so it’ll be ready for them in the morning. A lot of what I work with, since we already have backdrops in the studios, it’s mostly lighting equipment and grip.”

What is the most significant challenge you’ve faced?

“Being a woman, actually. It’s hard because it takes a lot of physical strength and a lot of the guys are way stronger than me, or they’re already more knowledgeable than me because they’re either older, or not in school and have more time to devote to this. So it’s really an issue of standing out while being on top of everything.”

What is the most important thing you’ve learned?

“I think learning to be more humble, because at first I was kind of like a snob, I felt like. And I think you have to learn to really just take initiative and be responsible for everything. And not be afraid to actually talk to my boss.”

How does this experience inform your education here at Biola?

“It’s actually what I didn’t learn at Biola. They don’t really teach you about lighting equipment or studio work. … There’s so much more than just a flash on your camera.”

Do you have any advice for students who want to do something similar?

“You have to take risks. I took a risk by quitting my previous internship that day and then just walking in [MILK Studios]. I think companies that you want to work for will take notice of you if you are … bold about what you want. You have to really put yourself out there, especially in L.A. because you’re competing against everyone.”

Rachel Reed, sophomore
Sociology major
Intern ||  Finding Freedom International

Where do you work?

“[Finding Freedom] is a non-profit organization, and they partner with different safehomes in different countries just to train caregivers to care for victims of sex trafficking.”

What do you do on a daily basis?

“Update social media, send out newsletters — I just take care of all the nuts and bolts. Hopefully, eventually, I’ll get to go to the safe homes with them and help train.”

What have you learned that has impacted you most?

“Probably just how the non-profit organization world works. The nuts and bolts of non-profit organizations, because I’ve never done that before, and it really is a lot of little things that make a big difference.”

How does this experience inform your education here at Biola?

“I’m learning a lot about the facts and the reality of human trafficking. That’s what I’m here to eventually go do, my minor is social justice … so I hope to one day be able to help women and  girls get out of human trafficking. It helps me apply what I’m learning to what I eventually hope to do.”

Do you have any advice for students who might want to do something similar?

“Go look for internships because they really are helpful. I feel like my internship right now — I mean it’s a job — but I feel like I’m actually making a difference, so that’s really fulfilling. I’ve had jobs before where it just isn’t fulfilling because it’s not really what I want to do.”

Sky Dickinson, senior
Journalism major
Past: digital programming intern || Red Bull Media House
Current: digital activation manager || CARO Marketing

Where do you work?

“I’m the digital activation manager for a fashion PR agency in Hollywood called CARO Marketing. I’m the head of the division, so I was an intern and then I got transfered into a full time position, basically. I started their YouTube channel, I developed the implementation process for all their social media posts.”

What did you do as an intern at Red Bull Media House?

“[I] worked in moving images. We managed daily programming of all the web clips, distribution of the original series. … We worked a lot with analytics and stat reports, delivered in other countries because Red Bull is a global brand — like top three most influential cultural lifestyle brands in the world, actually.”

What is the most important thing you’ve learned?

“I got some really awesome connections, some really crazy good experience in the industry and I think it was really impactful that they let me lead a project.”

What is the most significant challenge you’ve faced so far?

“The drive. If I’m being brutally honest. … Two hours there, two hours back, from La Mirada and coming back here for class was the hardest thing ever.”

How is this preparing you for post-graduate life?

“I think you have to be working during college years in the industry that you want to be in, because if you don’t, the people that will be going for the job that you want to get post-graduation will have already been an intern there and will have already had the personal phone number of the boss that you want to be your boss.”

Do you have any advice for students who might want to do something similar?

“Always send the email, there’s nothing to be scared of.”

Raven Worthy, senior
Biological science major
Intern || UPH Indonesia Summer Internship Program (June 2014)

Where will you work?

“UPH [Universitas Pelita Harapan] is the university over in Indonesia, and it’s this thing where Biola is partnering with Indonesia to provide experience for students who are interested in global health and pre-medicine get to go in and shadow the doctors over there and just become emerged into what med school is like over in Indonesia and also Indonesian culture and issues with global health.”

How did you learn about this UPH internship?

I learned about this during the health career club. It’s a club here on campus where students who are interested in going into a health career, and they had mentioned an opportunity during one of the meetings and I saw flyers for it and I just followed the instructions to apply.

What will you be doing on a daily basis?

“I don’t know how each and every day is going to play out, but in the email I got, the first 16 to 18 days we’re going to be observing and participating in the practice medical care in a hospital system there, and we’re going to be in a seminar talking about issues like macro health economics, population demographics … looking at how the U.S. government is interacting in Indonesia.”

How is this preparing you for post-graduate life?

“Anything that I’m doing right now helps to shape my resumé and shapes the person I’m going to be when I’m applying, so in school my grades and my test scores are obviously going to be reflective of what I’ve done here, but with the shadowing and the internship, it’s shaping who I am as a person, and when you’re applying to med school, when you get interviewed what they want to see is who you are as a person.

Are you a person that can do well in this career? Are you a person that’s going to change lives? So these types of experiences are molding me into the type of candidate, I guess, and doctor I need to be.”

Do you have any advice for students who might be interested in doing something similar?

“Just try to volunteer, try to get internships.”