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Students showcase skills on worldwide stage

During the month of February, 12 Bradley students will have the opportunity to intern for NBC Sports to assist with the broadcast of the world’s largest sporting event.

 Since 2010, Bradley students have interned for NBC Sports, which offers students internship opportunities during both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

“We actually got the agreement in fall of 2010 for the Olympics of summer 2012,” Paul Gullifor, professor and associate chair of the department of communication, said. “So we’d met with NBC, and we got them to commit to us about a year and a half before the Summer Olympics, so our first actual participation was in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.”

According to Gullifor, the impression made by the first group of students who participated in the internship in 2012 solidified the future of the partnership.

“I’m always talking to NBC, seeing how our students do, [because] they’re up against some schools who have some pretty big reputations,” Gullifor said. “I did that after the first summer games in London, first thing I did when I was done, I called them … they said, ‘Let’s put it this way, the next time we need interns, we’re calling Bradley first,’ which was outstanding.”

Some of this year’s interns credit the opportunity to work with the Olympics as part of their decision to come to Bradley.

“I first heard about this internship when I was in high school, and there was a representative from Bradley that came,” senior sports communication major Sam Dintruff said. “I told her that I was interested in the sports communication [program], and she said, ‘We actually sent a handful of students to the Olympics for Sochi,’ … so I took a look at their sports [communication] program, and the internship was probably a quarter of the reason I came to Bradley.”

Senior Danielle Snyder said she received advice that played a large part in her decision to apply for the internship. 

“Being a sports communication major, something that Bradley has taught me is to always say ‘Yes’ to the opportunities you’re given [because] you never know where that is going to lead you,” Snyder said. “This is [just] my way of getting my foot in the door into a really hard industry, and it’s definitely something I’m really looking forward to.”

Snyder said she is also interested to see all the work that goes into broadcasting such a large-scale event.

“I would love to take away how to report on the story and just kind of the behind-the-scenes of how they put on a mega-sporting event to … billions of people all over the world,” Snyder said. “I think it’s definitely an experience people should [have] once in their lifetime whether they’re working it or [watching it].”

Gullifor said faculty and staff of the Bradley community have contributed to the department with this program and are a large part of its success.

“The generosity and support is really gratifying,” Gullifor said. “It reminds me of that old saying, ‘It’s amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit.’ And that’s what happens here. Nobody really cares who gets the credit. We’re all just so excited for the students.”

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