The main reason students spend the semester in Los Angeles is to complete internships in communication fields that interest them. I chose Make- A-Wish Foundation because I was interested in learning more about non-profit organizations and working for such a good cause. I chose Ellen because I wanted the experience of working in the entertainment industry on a hit talk show.  I chose Ellen in particular because I had some friends who worked for the show previous semesters and seemed to enjoy it.

Make-A-Wish Foundation was a wonderful organization to work for this semester. Everyone in the office was so supportive and welcoming; I felt like I was part of the staff after the first couple weeks. The women in my department would always ask me to eat lunch with them and attend the staff meetings. My supervisor, Georgina is a sweetheart and I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better supervisor. It was certainly hard at times to constantly be reminded of how many children are suffering from life threatening illnesses but the positive atmosphere in the office made reality a lot easier to handle. 

My last weeks in Los Angeles have been bittersweet.  It’s hard to leave such a busy place with so much to do.  My only big regret would be not making a trip up to San Francisco. The trip would have been too long for just a weekend plus, there just wasn’t time with everyone’s busy schedules.  I am very excited to be getting back to Ithaca for Senior Week and seeing all of my friends.  After that week, I will be heading home for the summer to work in Albany.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get the internship I wanted at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center after many back and forth conversations with them.  For a communications organization the department I was applying to work in was seriously lacking in proper communication skills.  Kind of makes me wonder if it would have been a good idea to work there at all.  Now, with this job in Albany the pay is better so I can make up for all the money I spent in LA.  

On my second to last day at Ellen, they had an animal expert on and I was able to go into the green room and help the trainers with their animals before the show.  It was neat to experience the pre-show production from the producer's briefings with the trainers to actually helping coordinate the guests. My favorite part was playing with the mother and baby wallaby.  Carly Smithson, one of the top ten American Idols this season had just been kicked off the Idol that week and was now a guest on the show.  She told the producers she wanted to see the animals, so as we were walking down the hall she took a baby wallaby from my hand and started playing with him.  

One weekend, some ICLAer’s and I volunteered for the annual Autism walk at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. ICLA usually offers a volunteer opportunity at an AID’s Awareness walk in the fall and the Autism walk in the spring. We all worked at the advocacy booth with our media law professor who is heavily involved with this organization .  Our job was to encourage people to sign two different petitions for more funds to benefit families with children who are affected by autism.  That morning alone we got over 200 signatures.   

Another benefit to interning at big companies like NBC, Warner Bros, and Paramount is the access we have to free movie screenings.  I wish that I took advantage of them more throughout the semester, however, last weekend I did attend a screening of Baby Mama with my colleagues from Ellen.  Some of us went out to dinner after and it was a nice way to say goodbye and enjoy one last time together.  

Only being 30 minutes from Malibu we decided to take a trip to Zuma Beach.  This was the first time since I have been in California that I actually swam in the ocean.  The temperature outside was 90 degrees, but the ocean was numbingly cold.  The biggest excitment of the day was seeing dolphins jumping in the ocean.  I am really going to miss the beaches in California...

In the past weeks we found some great deals on restaurants around LA.  El Guapo is an open air Mexican restaurant that has dollar tacos on Tuesdays.  On the last night of our semester in Los Angeles I dressed up and went out to Dolce with a group of my friends.  The hip and expensive restaurant is actually owned by Ashton Kutcher.  The only reason we went to this place is because on Monday’s everything on the menu is half price.  I treated myself to Filet Minon and a delicious gelato dessert.   

Kelly's boss at Warner Bros had given her two walk on passes, so before one of my finals on Monday we took our own self-guided tour  of the Warner Bros. lot.  We got to see where they shoot ER and the vampire television show Moonlight.  The special effects manager from ER noticed us wandering around looking like we were lost. When we told him we weren't, he decided to give us a more interesting tour himself around the set of Moonlight.  As we spent more time walking around the set with him he said the word groovy about ten times and we could definitely see how he job has a special effects guy fit his personality.  

The Getty Museum is a must see if you are in the Los Angeles area. We looked at artwork from the 1800’s to modern day.  The Getty is also known for their beautiful gardens so we were very lucky to have gone on a gorgeous day.  The California Video exhibit was one of our favorite things to go through that day.  I think we spent almost a half an hour trying to figure out how one of the exibits worked.  We just could not wrap our brains around it!

Dimples is a Karaoke bar in Burbank and another must see if you are in LA.  One night Kelly and I had just got into our beds when our  friends called and said we should meet them in at Dimples.  Deciding to be spontaniuos Kelly and I got out of bed, put on some nice clothes and made our way to Dimples. We had surprised our friends by coming down because it wasnt until after we got off the phone with them that we decided to go.  After much deliberation Kelly and I decided to sing Kiss Me by Sixpence Non the Richer.  I was nervous about singing our first song but after I faced my fears I was ready for another.  We watched some other people make fools of themselves just like us and then decided to go.  If anyone would like to see the video of us singing, just ask!

Saying goodbye to all the people I became close with at both internships was sad, knowing I most likely will not see those people again unless I come back to LA.  My last day at Ellen actually ended up being kind of crazy because everyone was busy getting ready to fly to Chicago for a few shows she would be doing there.  Becky Goodling (a fellow Ithaca student and Ellen intern) and I stayed an hour later than usual and helped the travel guy pass out flight itineraries for everyone in the office.  I have been writing in an internship log throughout this semester and in my next blog post I will fill you in on more details about each internship and how I feel each helped me gain experience in my field.  

I finished my internship at Make-A-Wish Foundation the following Monday and Tuesday.  I wasn’t officially saying goodbye to those people because I told them I would volunteer that weekend at their biggest charity event of the year.  It was a wine & food tasting and auction in Santa Monica.  Some of LA’s best wineries and restaurants were represented at this event.  I got The Ellen Degeneres Show to donate 2 VIP tickets and merchandise to auction off at the event.  The night of the event, I was stationed at the wine glass distribution tables and auction item distribution at the end of the night.  I was happy to be at the station with my supervisor to chat with her about my experience at MAW.  The theme of the event was Mulan Rouge and the whole night they played music from the movie and had these Glamazon dancers doing actrobatics on rings from the ceiling.  It was a great way to end my time at Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles.  
 

Ally, Kelly, Christy and I formed Team Dumbledore for ICLA’s semester volleyball tournament.  I will add that it was the ONLY all girl team! As the temperature was pushing 100 degrees, we stepped out on the court for our first out of possible best-of-three games against our guy friends on Team Something Fierce.  The only practice we had was the night before with a beach ball.  The hot sand certainly kept us on our toes for each of the games.  We put up a good fight against Team Fierce, but we just couldn’t beat them in the end.  Luckily, Holly and Jon set it up as a double elimination tournament so we still had one more game to play. Right before the game we realized that if we put on socks we would avoid getting blisters all over our feet.  Our played much better in this game and were really starting to get the hang of it.  We lost our first game against Two and a Half Men and we knew this next game was all we had left to advance.  We didn’t end without a fight with a score of 18-21. As hard as it was to lose, we were happy to jump in the pool and cool off.  Our friends on Team Fierce ended up getting second place overall.   

The tournament was followed with a BBQ put on by our RA’s.  That night our group of 8 went to Castle Park Mini Golf Course to have some good clean fun.  It was a neat place, but we were a little disappointed in the lack of uniqueness the course.  It closed at 12 so they ended up kicking us out at our thirteenth hole…LAME.  However, I did get second place overall and one hole-in-one at the end of the night. 

Here are some other fun highlights from my week: 

1) My professor from Speechwriting and Interviewing brought our class of three students out to the Smoke House for dinner.  The Smoke House is a restaurant right across from the Warner Bros. lot and often a place of celebrity sightings.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any celebrities, but it was still a lovely night of delicious garlic bread, steak, potatoes and great conversation.   

2) On Monday, at MAW I was working on the somewhat dry task of closing out files so they would be ready for the auditor to review at the end of the fiscal year.  After that project was complete I overheard one of my co-workers saying that she had to a wish from a 12 year old girl named Lesley who wanted a High School Musical themed bedroom.  I peaked around the corner and exclaimed, “I can help with that!”  She delighted with my enthusiasm for this project because she had not seen the movie and didn’t know where to start.  We searched the websites to find some sample patterns and accessories for the room.  We found 5 different patterns of High School Musical sheets, comforters, curtains, wall hangings, etc. that we cut out and put together to send to Lesley.

3) On Friday I got out of Ellen a little early and went over to Jay Leno’s studio with Corey, Kelly, and Dan.  Jay Leno is right across the street from Ellen so it was easy to get there.  We heard rumors that Jenna Fischer (Pam) from The Office was going to be there, but to our disappointment she was not.  Instead it was British comedian Tracy Ullman promoting her new show, State of the Union.  The next guest was Jason Taylor, a defensive end for the Miami Dolphins and currently one of the stars competing on Dancing with the Stars.  The last guest was Flogging Molly, a seven-piece Irish American Celtic punk band.  Ally’s professor works for NBC publicity so she got us guest passes and we ended up sitting in the front row.  When Jay Leno came out we got to go right up to the front of the stage and put our hands out for him to shake.  Jay touched my hand! haha It was cool sitting so close. We were right down in the mix of the camera crew, set changers and the executive producers.  I felt like I was part of the show. 

4) Ally, Kelly and I really enjoyed our hike at the beginning of the semester so we decided to find another trial.  We ended up going to Griffith Park and hiking through a trail that led us to the top of the observatory.  On our way up we were able to see the Hollywood sign in the distance and take some great pictures.  I honestly think we ended up stopping every couple minutes to take another humorous picture or climb a tree near by.  Hiking really makes me appreciate nature and all the small beauties we have around us that we often take for granted.  I am hoping I will do some more hiking once I get home to New York this summer.  After the hike we went to the store and bought Juno.  REALLY if you haven’t seen it, rent it!