The clock strikes zero and the crowd goes wild. Journalism junior Remi Monaghan interned this past summer with the media department for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The hockey team celebrated their 50th anniversary as an established team and won back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships, all while Monaghan interned for them.
“I got to attend the home games over the summer,” Monaghan said. “I have been to many different types of sporting events and have never heard an arena so loud. Every single fan was on their feet and the arena was shaking from all the noise.”
Finding a Passion for Sports Journalism
Monaghan had her first experience with sports journalism as a freshman in high school. She filmed her high school’s sporting events and was enrolled in a broadcasting class. Fast forward to undergrad, Monaghan brought her passion to Michigan State University.
Monaghan has worked for the BIG Ten Network Student U for the last three years. She calls games for a range of sporting events on campus, which are broadcasted on the BIG Ten Student U. Her previous experience with sports broadcasting enhanced her resume and prepared her for the summer internship.
“My role with the BIG Ten stood out on my resume,” Monaghan stated. “I had experience covering large scale events while remaining professional, even when I wanted to root for MSU.”
Social Media with a National Following
Monaghan created content for all of the Penguin’s social channels including sponsored and organic posts. She provided the experience of being at the rink to fans from the comfort of their smart phones.
“On game days, I would posts pictures to keep fans updated on the score,” Monaghan said. “Their Snapchat stories would get more than 60,000 views. I would try to find fans with funny signs, which were always a big hit on social media.”
After the fun of the games, Monaghan would join the media department to analyze the success of her postings. Data for sponsored postings would be sent back to the sponsors to show impressions of each of Monaghan’s social media content.
“The sponsored postings would get around 100,000 interactions per post,” Monaghan said. “The 16 hour work-days during game days was rough at times, but it was worth it.”
When One Door Closes Another One Opens
When applying to internships and jobs, you may hear the word “no” often. Take the rejection as a part of the learning experience and keep applying. Just because you don’t get one internship doesn’t mean that you aren’t the perfect candidate for another position.
Monaghan initially applied to an ESPN internship, and did not get accepted. She took this opportunity to gain more experience with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“I loved my internship this past summer, but my dream is to intern for ESPN,” Monaghan said. “It was really hard to hear no, but I am glad I applied initially. There is no harm to in applying for an internship that may be out of reach. You never know what can happen.”
Monaghan plans to reapply to the summer 2018 ESPN internship, as she continues as a broadcaster for the BIG Ten Network Student U.
By Brooke Segal