Internship Spotlight: Natalie D'Apolito at NFI
Natalie D'Apolito is a Strategic Communications major from Youngstown, Ohio. She had the pleasure to intern with the National Fisheries Institute (NFI). NFI is a trade organization that represents the US's seafood industry. The members range from fishermen, trucking companies, and freezer services to seafood businesses like Starkist Tuna.
Q: What company are you working with?
A: Over the summer I had an internship with the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), a trade organization that represents the United States' seafood industry. NFI's members range from fishermen, trucking companies and freezer services to seafood businesses like Starkist Tuna.
Q: What were your responsibilities?
A: At NFI, I would start my day by media monitoring, finding any news, positive or negative, that regarded the seafood industry. From those articles, I would draft tweets promoting the benefits of eating seafood along with new research about seafood. I would also send important articles to different NFI departments, like our lobbyist, lawyer or researcher. I also wrote scripts for NFI's weekly newsletter, which included a video of my supervisor, Lynsee, updating members on information and events in the seafood industry. From there, I would work the teleprompter for the video, then after it was shot I would edit the video using Adobe Premiere software. I also wrote blogs for NFI's website, aboutseafood.com, and worked with other NFI employees on search engine optimization for the blogs. Besides these daily responsibilities, I would work on anything that other employees needed help with, like compiling articles that mentioned a press release that NFI sent out during my time there.
Q: What skills did you learn?
A: I learned how to work a professional camera, shoot b-roll, edit videos, write scripts, media monitor and lobby for the seafood industry. I also learned how to act and communicate in a professional work environment, which may seem small but is actually a very big deal and a great skill to have!
Q: What were some challenges that you faced during the internship?
A: One of the main challenges I faced was not believing that I had the ability to complete the tasks stated above. I went into the internship thinking that I knew nothing when in reality I was actually familiar with a lot of the tasks that I did on a daily basis. Of course, I didn't know everything, but I knew more than I thought. That was my biggest challenge; believing that I had the capability to work in a "real world" environment.
Q: Do you have a favorite story/part of your internship?
A: My favorite part of the internship was when we took rising professionals in the seafood industry to Capitol Hill to lobby for the seafood industry. Every year, NFI conducts a Future Leaders Program, where we first train the leaders on how to lobby for a cause, then take them to Capitol Hill to meet with their representatives in the House and Senate. It was so cool! I actually got to go inside of both the House and Senate buildings and take part in the lobbying process. That is an experience I will never forget.
Q: Did the internship help you get a better idea of what you want to do in the future?
A: Yes! Now I know that I definitely want to work in food PR, whether it be for a trade organization or another corporation representing the food industry. Since the internship was in Washington, D.C., it also helped me to see where I want to live post-graduation, and I am actually moving to D.C. a few weeks after commencement.
Q: How do you spend your free time?
A: In my free time, I enjoy cooking and baking, hanging out with my friends and watching anything on Bravo, especially Real Housewives of Atlanta.
NFI is coming to campus to interview students for their media/communications internship for summer 2020. If you're interested, send your resume and cover letter to Lynsee Fowler by March 19.
Learn more about the media/communications internship (PDF).
Info session - learn more about the summer internship and about the company
March 25, 2020
7 p.m.
Journalism conference room
Interviews
March 26, 2020
9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Questions? Contact Karen Peters.