Life couldn’t be more exciting for Southeast student Mary Stinson. Mary is finishing the final three hours of her program in mass communication with an emphasis in video production by completing an internship with Country Music Television (CMT) in Nashville, Tenn.
Mary works in the creative promotions department, allowing her the opportunity to work with every piece of promotional programming affiliated with CMT, including television commercials, print advertisements and radio announcements. Some of the promotions she has created have aired on CMT and are continuing to air.
“The great thing about interning in the promotions department is that it allows you to have a sense of creativity,” she explained. “It requires you to find your footage, write your script, pick your music and see your project develop from beginning to end.”
Nashville couldn’t be a better spot for Mary, who is an avid country music and concert connoisseur. She has attended more than 60 country music concerts, seeing numerous performers. She plans to attend several concerts at the Grand Ole Opry and see the local performers at various Nashville locations. Mary also likes to collect music memorabilia such as T-shirts, posters and personal photos.
While living in Nashville for the summer, Mary will assist with the Country Music Association Music Festival Week (FAN FAIR), working on the CMT Cross Country Truck which travels nationwide to promote country singers. During the four-day festival, more than 150,000 people walk the streets of downtown Nashville to see the performers and attend fan club parties and autograph signings.
Mary says her time at Southeast contributed to her success as a student and as an intern. “It’s amazing how much information I gained from Southeast that prepared me for my internship,” she said. “My strong knowledge base in script writing, video programming and editing came from the teachings and classes of Dr. Jim Dufek and Professor Fred Jones in the Department of Video Productions.”
Outside of her classes, Mary spent a lot of her free time as a student supervisor in the Department of Mass Communication-Video Productions. Here, she had a chance to help put together various packages to promote Southeast on local networks. Mary also attended the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in Las Vegas, Nev., increasing her knowledge by seeing the latest technology displayed and attending informational presentations about the broadcasting industry. Although Mary’s internship in Nashville will be over before she knows it, she advises future students to learn from their time at Southeast, both academically and individually, because the University offers the opportunity to learn about many different areas throughout their college experience.