The Red Fox Internship Playbook: Advice for Landing Your Summer 2027 Role

Lauren McCann '27 doing fieldwork for her news internship with Islip TV. Photo by Lauren McCann '27

From TV stations to Major League Baseball, all sorts of interesting summer internships can be found on the resumes of Marist Red Foxes. It’s recruiting season again, and students are searching for experiential learning opportunities for Summer 2027.

There are many ways to find and land internships across all disciplines, and students who interned this past summer shared their experiences and how they secured their roles.

Sports Communication major Marisa Toulas ‘27 interned at the MLB Network as a summer content associate. Through her major, Toulas learned about Teams, an app that students use to apply for internships. Between her resume, profile and five-month process consisting of three interviews, she landed the role.

Toulas spent late nights watching games live and clipping home runs and double plays for highlight reels and social media, which she said is typical for the role. She adapted to a brand-new server and the pressure of working in a role akin to her dream job. Her ambition and willingness to ask the right questions enhanced her experience. Toulas’ team was supportive, and she had many opportunities to learn, including going into the studio and watching shows. 

Mishele Milman ‘27, a Business Administration major concentrating in Entrepreneurship, interned at Amazon as an area manager intern. She found the role on Handshake, applied through Amazon and took an online assessment. After two virtual interviews, she got the role in her top location choice: Miami, Florida.

She was relocated, received a rental car and pushed past the intimidation of moving to an entirely new state. At Amazon, Milman worked the night shift, which forced her to learn how to prioritize a work-life balance and time management while getting home past 4 a.m. Her team made the warehouse a home, and she spent her internship working in a managerial role as well as an engagement project, where she was able to increase form response engagement by more than 800 responses. 

Psychology major Sebastian Vega ‘27 interned for Family Services’ Restart Program at the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center. He was selected for Marist’s Tarver Internship Program, a summer-long, three-credit independent study arrangement for students interested in Social Work. The process includes an application in early February, an interview and a placement process based on student interest.

Family Services is an evidence-based community group program for high-risk incarcerated individuals that offers group therapy, case management and more. At first, Vega’s role involved finding resources and creating resource guides for incarcerated individuals. Today, through Family Services, Vega is trained in Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) and facilitates a group session on Mondays. He also started a weekly book club at the site. 

Vega lived on campus while interning this summer and said he loved getting the chance to connect with the Hudson Valley without being preoccupied with school. He also found supportive staff and developed a newfound passion for working in this sector of social work.

Media Studies and Production major Lauren McCann ‘27 interned at “Islip Television” as a news reporter intern. Her unconventional approach to securing her role demonstrates the importance of stepping outside of one’s comfort zone during recruiting season. 

McCann went directly to the job site and told them she was hoping to intern during the summer. That was during Summer 2026, and Islip TV ultimately asked her to return for Summer 2027. 

Due to the nature of modern news, her role allowed her to experience many different aspects of the news process from pitching stories to producing final cuts of news segments. She even got the opportunity to interview an NBA player at a local event. McCann’s favorite project was a two-part news series about local oyster farms, where she got to go out on the bay with farmers and talk about their businesses. 

Computer Science major Pedro Guitian ‘27 interned at International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) as a backend developer. Guitian got the role by taking advantage of Marist’s resources for career opportunities. He contacted people through the Marist network, and one of the professors, who worked at IBM full-time, ultimately helped him get his foot in the door. 

Guitian described the experience as a welcomed challenge. One important skill he learned was how to use Playwright, an automated testing tool used in Quality Assurance (QA) to check that websites and applications work as intended.

“I had the opportunity to meet the greatest minds in the world,” Guitian said.

When asked what advice they had for Marist Red Foxes looking to intern this coming summer, these students gave some great advice.

Students such as Guitian and McCann emphasize the importance of persistence and putting yourself out there when searching for roles.

“Spend more time reaching out to people who can help you get your foot in the door, rather than cold-applying,” said Guitian.

“If you just ask the question you never know what will happen. It can be stressful and discouraging when you see all these rejections from big companies. But if you just keep doing the hard work behind the scenes, you’ve got it,” said McCann.

“Don’t be afraid to put yourself outside of your comfort zone. That's what gaining experience is all about: exploring a side of your work that you don't fully know yet,” said Vega.

Toulas reflected on how internship experiences can challenge conventional gender stereotypes and reshape beliefs about gender roles in the workplace. She found that despite her vast knowledge and prior experience, she still was questioned on competency.

Students like Vega and Milman emphasize the importance of being willing to take risks when pursuing new opportunities.

“Apply to everything; even if you don’t think that there’s a chance you’ll get it. And take it even if you’re scared,” Milman said.