Southern Virginia University’s Media Internship
By Krailyn Guymon
This year, Southern Virginia University started Instagram pages for all of their athletic teams. This has created opportunities for students to be a part of the media team as interns. Halle Maddock (’26) was able to become a part of the team.
“At the beginning of fall semester, they advertised on the Knight Athletics Instagram story that they were looking for interns for their social media team,” says Maddock.
“I didn’t have a portfolio, but it was something I wanted to pursue so badly. I actually talked to my coach for advice and she told me to just go for it. So I emailed Kiwi, the Director of Creative Media, had an interview, and got the internship. One of the best days ever.”
“There are so many opportunities with social media in today’s world. Photography has always been such a huge interest to me and I think it’s so cool that I get to learn not only about taking photos, but also social media. Plus the fact that this all revolves around some of my favorite sports just adds to the excitement. Being an intern has helped me realize what I want to major in, as well as what road I want to take for my career.”
The media team has really made a name for themselves in just one semester. Even when you are not present at the game you can rely on the media team to keep you updated. But how does it actually work? During games, everyone has a responsibility. Halles’ main responsibility is posting on the stories. She films raw video of the game, trims the footage, comes up with a fun caption, and then posts. When making a post, they look for how to make the content unique, but still trendy; whether that is the use of emoji’s, or popular lingo. It really catches the audience’s eye and makes the story look more aesthetically pleasing.
Maddock loves the media internship, saying, “I love that it doesn’t feel like an internship. It’s fun all the time. I can’t believe I get to do something that I love for school credit. I’m so grateful. I love the crew and there is never a dull moment. We are always laughing and having a great time together.”
Maddock’s favorite thing to do is to take photos at games. During the conference tournament for the women’s volleyball team, she was lucky enough to be one of the interns at those games, including the championship.
“Being able to capture that game, to harness the energy of the team in a photo, was such an exciting experience and is, hands down, one of my favorite memories at Southern Virginia University.”
Maddock continues, “My hope is that I am able to get a stable career out of things I have learned and will learn from being an intern. It would be a dream come true if I am able to do social media at a D1 level one day. Fingers crossed.”
The media internship has helped Maddock learn about social media and branding. “I have learned how to create fun, interesting and interactive content for not only athletes and students at Southern Virginia University to enjoy, but content that connects family, relatives, and friends that are miles away,” explains Maddock.
The media team works very hard to do their best for the athletes. You can find each athletic team’s page by here.
