Intern Success Stories

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Internship Success Stories

Jake Ryan

In Spring 2025, Jake Ryan served as the Ticket Sales and Marketing Intern at Playhouse Square, one of the nation’s largest performing arts centers. A central part of his role was creating and curating content for The Buzz, a newsletter distributed to season ticket holders. He also supported the marketing team with promotional content, mailings, label generation, and graphic design in Canva.

Jake especially valued contributing to projects that reached Playhouse Square’s audience. He found it rewarding to see his work featured in newsletters, blog posts, and website graphics. Along the way, he built new skills in adapting to brand voice and learning industry tools, experiences he describes as important to his professional growth.

His coursework at Cleveland State University prepared him well for the internship. Classes such as COM 335 and COM 447 provided hands-on practice with industry software and project-based assignments, while professors Dr. Jirik and Dr. Thomas offered guidance that connected classroom learning to professional settings. Outside the classroom, his work with The Vindicator strengthened his writing, and his connections in the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) helped him secure the internship.

Reflecting on his experience, Jake encourages students to pursue opportunities that let them practice a wide range of skills. “Every project gave me the chance to learn something new, whether it was creative work or organizational tasks,” he says. “It all matters in preparing for a career in communication.”

JD Brain 

In March 2024, JD Brain began working as a Marketing Communications Co-op at Avery Dennison, a global materials science and digital identification company. In this role, he helps plan and execute marketing strategies for North American events and trade shows. His responsibilities include coordinating with marketing, sales, and design teams on booth layouts, messaging, and product integration. He also manages the i.Lab, Avery Dennison’s customer experience center, where he leads tours highlighting company innovations.

JD enjoys the variety of his work and finds it rewarding to see projects come together at major events. Managing multiple projects at once has challenged him to strengthen his organization, communication, and problem-solving skills, which he sees as valuable preparation for his career.

He credits Cleveland State University’s School of Communication with preparing him for professional success. Courses in strategic communication, persuasion, and project-based teamwork connected theory with practice, while the 4+1 graduate program gave him experience balancing professional and academic responsibilities.

JD encourages current communication students to pursue hands-on opportunities wherever possible. “Internships, co-ops, and student-run campaigns are all valuable,” he says. “Be open to feedback, explore different areas of communication, and use every opportunity to grow.”

Meet Emily Ginley

Emily Ginley worked as a PR and Social Media Intern for MainStreet Medina. She developed pre-production plans and created content like schedules, informational posts, and reminders about events in the city, primarily through Facebook and their website. Ginley also looked at audience engagement by tracking their metrics and creating posts to optimize their social media account performance.

Meet Jane Matousek

Jane Matousek worked as a Marketing and PR intern for All Streams Media and Marketing Co. Matousek's responsibilities as an intern included creating graphics and strategic plans. She also directed and produced for content shoots by taking pictures and videos and editing the content.
 

Meet Kallee Turk

Kallee Turk worked as a Public Relations and Communications Intern at Destination Cleveland. As an intern for Destination Cleveland, Turk's responsibilities included researching and developing content for press releases. She also assisted in media monitoring, identifying key messages, and creating descriptions for visiting media opportunities.