Megan Mackander
GO Program participant
Studying in the USA had some unexpected benefits for journalism student Megan Mackander, who became a media intern during the first presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama.
Megan, who chose to study at the University of Mississippi (UM) through USC’s GO Program, says her chance to work with cable channel MSNBC arose when she enrolled in a class that included an internship with the UM media relations team.
Media relations staff were busy preparing for the debate, to be held on the UM campus amid tight security.
“During my first few days with the media relations team, I handed out press packs, answered questions, directed the crews to where they needed to be and ensured everything was prepared for the arrival of the 3,000 journalists later that week,” Megan says.
“On the day of the debate, I worked with MSNBC as an intern. I got coffees, made phone calls for staff, arranged meals, ran errands around campus, answered questions, got the live audience together by promoting the shows, and just observed.”
Megan says she was thrilled to be involved in such a huge international event, and was delighted to have the opportunity to gain media experience not readily available in Australia.
She describes the GO (Global Opportunities) Program as a “fantastic opportunity” to complete a USC degree while seeing the world.
“It is a great chance to study and travel at the same time, see new places and gain experience that you could not get otherwise,” she says.
“The GO Program will help me in my future career. I can now put on my resume that I have done an internship with MSNBC in America… practical experience that most Sunshine Coast students cannot say they had.”