COMMunity Roar

Intern Insights: International Spotlight

Intern Insights: International Spotlight
Intern Insights allows current departmental interns to share their perspective on topics relevant to their experience as an undergraduate student.

Part 1 Hannah Hank

 

After my appointment as the manager of COMMunity Roar, the Department of Communication’s blog, I was challenged to present the perspective of international students on our campus. However, I can’t speak for 1295 undergraduate and graduate students currently on campus because of the myriad of factors that contribute to the experience of an international student attending Clemson University (Clemson University Office of Institutional Research, 2020). In the wake of 2020 and all that this unprecedented year brought, I won’t hesitate to disclaim: this is my personal take. See my glossary at the end of the text for Australian translations.

 

If you read the initial Meet the Interns post you would have a snippet of an insight into my life in Australia. I grew up in a coastal, country town called Port Lincoln–a half an hour from our family’s oyster farm/recently turned tourism business in Coffin Bay. My Mum and Dad, ironically, told my brother and I “the world is your oyster” when they gave us the opportunity to continue playing basketball and attend high school in the big smoke of Adelaide. In Adelaide we competed for our respective club teams every week, and our state team South Australia Metro in the Australian Basketball Championships each year whilst continuing our studies at Trinity College. The seven and a half hour distance between ball and school in the city, and our humble home in Lincoln made for a family challenge to adapt and sacrifice. Initially we moved as a family and Dad commuted for 3 years until Mum had to move home. With this change my brother and I started boarding with host families when I was 14. I will always be grateful for the opportunities that came from this experience in my teenage years. This experience helped my brother and I reach our goal to play division 1 basketball in the United States while studying. Now I get to continue to pursue my goals to play professionally and see where my education takes me post-basketball.

 

     

Photographs of me playing for my club Forestville Eagles after we won the grand final and South Australia Metro when we placed 2nd in year 12.

 

Connection is a word that gets thrown around a lot with respect to interpersonal relationships, sporting team’s chemistry, the dynamic in a workplace environment or the nostalgia that ties someone to their hometown. I think connection is often romanticized, and rightly so, because it really is so powerful. I will always think of Port Lincoln as my home and yet I stand corrected that you cannot have a similar connection to another location. I remember when I was moving 10, 246 miles across the world at 18 and my friends and family were throwing banter at me at the airport saying I better not come home saying “y’all” or blasting country music. I knew home to be home and it was irreplaceable to me, so even the thought of calling another place home left a sour taste in my mouth. I am happy I was wrong. Here I am, two years later and I already know Clemson will always have a special place in my heart too— as will Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen. I’ve learned that what they say is true. It’s not the place, as much as I love being by the water, but it is the people that make a place. I have really felt that here at Clemson.

My first Clemson football game with some of my tiger sister teammates.

      

Visiting my brother in New York. My parents visiting my Freshman Year. Going to visit my homestay sister who I boarded with year 11 and 12 this summer in North Carolina where she attends university at Elon.

 

I think a massive part of feeling at home is the Clemson family and specifically, the other international student athletes I have come to know and call great mates of mine. It is sort of a mutual nod when you watch another international’s eyes light up to an incoming facetime from home when time zones finally line up. Or sharing in the joy seeing them open a package from home like a kid on Christmas morning. It’s over homemade meals of foods you’ve never tried before. I cannot help but be grateful because they open your mind to different perspectives and cultures outside of the one you grew up in. I’ll always get a kick out of watching kids try vegemite (always a good laugh). Internationals have a shared connection of taking on the Unites States and understanding the challenges like homesickness, COVID-19 travel bans and wrapping your heads around grits and who thought it was a good idea to put a prawn in one (they belong on the barbie).

 

In the next International Spotlight, I will be continue this series sharing the perspectives of some of the incredible, talented, beautiful beings I have had the pleasure of meeting due to our shared connection as international students of Clemson University.

 

Go Tigs!!

 

 

 

Local Terms/Phrases/Slang to Get Familiar With

Mum: Mom or Mother

Big Smoke: A city

Trinity College: In Australia it is common for private high schools to be called colleges

Year 12: Senior year of high school

Prawn: Shrimp

Barbie: BBQ or Grill

 

References

Clemson University Office of Institutional Research, 2020.https://www.clemson.edu/institutional-effectiveness/oir/factbook/index.html

Student Spotlight Jasmine Lewis

Welcome to our Student Spotlight! We regularly highlight current undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Communication to showcase their unique endeavors and contributions to our department, campus community and the world.

Jasmine Lewis, senior sports communication major with a brand communication minor, hails from Atlanta, Georgia and is an active member of the Clemson Rowing team. Jasmine plans to graduate in May of 2022 but has made the most of her undergraduate experience, even with the interruption of COVID-19. Continue reading to learn more about how she has taken advantage of the University Professional Internship Co-Op Program (UPIC) and blended her academic and professional interests over the past year.

 

Since January, Jasmine has interned with the Erwin Center for Brand Communications through the UPIC Program (in partnership with Student-Athlete Development). The Erwin Center provides opportunities and insight to help guide and build the next generation of brand leaders. The program prepares students for careers in brand communication and focuses on professional development of future brand leaders. Links for both the

 

Recently, Jasmine assisted with the Erwin Center’s DIVE IN brand academy, a week-long immersive experience for college students interested in the field of brand communications.

DIVE IN is dedicated to advancing diversity in brand communications by enhancing the skills and abilities of future brand leaders. This was the third year of the program and Jasmine had the opportunity to run the Erwin Center’s social media throughout the week. Jasmine kept others informed on the work the scholars were participating in as well as what the brand leaders taught to the participants. Jasmine noted that, “throughout this experience [she] gained a stronger understanding of what it means to be proud of the work you do, how to brand yourself by the work you do, and how opportunities connect and grow within the industry.”

 

Jasmine said the insight she gains from working with the staff of Erwin Center has been the best part of the internship. She explained that the work she does is not just busy work, but actually work she can see her herself doing in the future. After college she would love to serve in the Peace Core for a few of years and then return to work for an agency or a company and help with their branding or social media growth. One area she has been able to hone during her internship are her technological skills. She has had the opportunity to learn how to design, create, and organize through the many different media platforms. Another skill she has picked up in this type of work environment are conversational and relational engagement. “I learn by watching [my mentor] during meetings and how she takes notes and goes and gets the work done efficiently… and learning to do work in better standards than everyone had anticipated.” Advice Jasmine would give to other students wanting to intern with the Erwin Center would be focus on time management and be ready to learn with every new project.

 

In addition to her internship this summer, Jasmine will be doing a cross country road trip with one of her friends. They will be flying into Arizona and touring National Parks like the Grand Canyon and visiting Salt Lake City as they drive back to Clemson, South Carolina.

 

Learn more about the program’s Jasmine is involved with by clicking the links below:

 

Sports Communication Major @ Clemson University: https://www.clemson.edu/degrees/sports-communication

 

Erwin Center for Brand Communications: https://www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/erwin/

 

UPIC: https://career.sites.clemson.edu/internship_programs/UPIC_program/

 

Student-Athlete Development: https://clemsontigers.com/student-athlete-development-2/

 

 

Meet the Interns | Summer 2021

Three new interns are working under the guidance of Dr. Lori Pindar as media communication and engagement inters this summer. Their internships experience in the Department of Communication will include content creation for the departmental blog, YouTube Channel, and other social as well as alumni outreach and interviews, external communication management and upkeep of the departmental newsletter. Learn more about Abbie, Hannah, and Jackson below!

 

Abbie Panuccio

Abbie Panuccio is a junior marketing major with a minor in sports communication. Hailing from Greenville, South Carolina, she is the youngest of four girls. She and her sisters grew up as tigers which did not make Abbie’s decision difficult when it was time to look at colleges. Abbie’s favorite part of Clemson is the Clemson family and her fondest memories are walking the dikes and the many meals she has had at the Esso Club with her friends. She is also deeply involved in the campus community as a member of Alpha Delta Pi where she serves as the chair of special events as well as a member of Fellowship Christian Athletes where she serves on the prayer and encouragement team. Abbie’s passion to serve others has served her well at Clemson through the numerous opportunities Clemson has provided her and she is happy to call Clemson her home.

 

 

Hannah Hank

Hannah Hank is a 20 year old international student-athlete who will be a junior this year as she continues her degree as an English major with a minor in Communication. Hannah calls Port Lincoln, South Australia home, growing up on the beautiful coast of the Eyre Peninsula, her family runs an oyster farm/tour operator business called Experience Coffin Bay. In her free time she enjoys being by the ocean/lake/pool, hikes and spending time with friends and family. She represented her state at the Australian Basketball Championships and was selected for two Junior National squads before being recruited to Clemson University. Since moving to the United States to continue her education and basketball career, Hannah has joined the Tiger Leadership Academy and recently was appointed as an ambassador for Tigers Around the Globe (TAG) affiliated with the athletic department.

 

 

Jackson Moehler

Jackson Moehler is a junior Sports Communication major with minors in psychology and nonprofit leadership. She is from Marietta, Georgia and is the oldest of five siblings. In her free time, she loves to hang out with her family and friends, try new restaurants (follow her food Instagram @tigertown_treats), and watch her favorite television show, Friends. Jackson also has a 9-month-old golden retriever  puppy named Boone. Boone loves going on walks at the dike and swimming at the rowing docks! Jackson grew up playing soccer and basketball and now is a member of the Clemson Women’s Soccer team. Jackson chose Clemson University because she loved the family atmosphere of both the campus and the people. She also loved how sports plays a huge role in the culture of Clemson and how everyone rallies together for all of the different athletic teams. Jackson chose Sports Communication as her major because she wanted to be able to learn about the inner workings of a sports team and organization from a school that is known for their athletics. Sports have helped shape her into who she is, and she would love to start a career with any major sports organization within their media department.

 

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