August 3, 2012 (Jackson) - Sarah Rivera is a senior at Belhaven from Clermont, Fla. who spent the summer interning with one of the top news stations in Central Florida, WESH Channel 2 News, and got a chance to talk with Katie Couric along the way.
While at WESH, she wrote news stories, shadowed reporters on stories, worked with the promotions team, practiced anchoring, helped with shooting commercials, worked the camera and many other assignments. Rivera even found herself chatting with Katie Couric about Mississippi, Belhaven and Eudora Welty.
Katie Couric visited the WESH studio the second week of Rivera’s internship to promote her new show. “The day that I met Katie was wonderful. I was the first intern to introduce myself. I said, ‘Hi, Im Sarah, one of the interns.’ She asked me where I attended school and I told her I go to Belhaven University in Jackson, Miss. Once I said that, she seemed very excited about Mississippi and opened up to asking me more questions,” said Rivera.
For her internship, Rivera would drive 50 minutes, there and back, to the WESH station in Orlando. The knowledge she gained about producing, reporting and anchoring was well worth the gas it took to get there. Rivera pointed out that the advice the professionals gave to the interns was helpful toward their careers and she is looking forward to sharing it with her classmates this fall.
Rivera will finish her studies this year in communications when she returns. She is pursuing a degree in communications and had many opportunities to apply her classroom principles and knowledge during her internship. “I didnt realize how valuable the communications department was until my internship,” said Rivera. “Once it started, I carried my notes and material from class with me everyday and referred to them several times.”
Belhaven stands among the select Christian colleges and universities that offer a unique general core curriculum encouraging the development of a personal worldview. The university believes a Christian worldview is a key to preparing men and women academically and spiritually to serve Christ Jesus in their careers, in human relationships, and in the world of ideas.
Founded in 1883, Belhaven University now serves over 3,000 students from campuses in Jackson, Memphis, Orlando, Houston, Chattanooga, Atlanta and online, offering traditional undergraduate degrees, graduate and adult degree programs, and online degree programs.