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When Marquis Scholar Amanda Finkelstein ’06 (Syosset, N.Y.) applied for an externship at The New York Times, she assumed that she would get the opportunity to see how a newsroom operates and how print journalists do their jobs.
She got that and more — the chance to watch the taping of a cable TV talk show from the control room – during a day with Alan Finder, sports enterprise editor at the Times.
She was among more than 200 Lafayette students who recently gained first-hand knowledge of the professional world. They served externships with alumni and other experienced professionals in business, the arts, education, healthcare, law, engineering, science, government, non-profits, and other fields. The students observed work practices, learned about careers they may consider entering after college, and developed professional networking contacts.
“I have always been intrigued by language,” says Finkelstein, an English major. “I felt the externship would help me learn more about a field that revolves around the use of language and its role in the communication of ideas.”
Finkelstein, Kelly Milnes ’07 (Hewitt, N.J.), a double major in government & law and English, and Sean Comerford ’06 (Manhasset, N.Y.), a double major in English and music, began their day with Finder away from the newsroom, at New York’s Chelsea Markets, where Finder and three colleagues tape a weekly public affairs TV show for New York’s Channel 1.
“That day, they discussed Governor Pataki’s State of the State speech as well as the Jets’ stadium,” Finkelstein says. “I really enjoyed watching the taping, especially since the field of journalism I’m most interested in is broadcasting.”
The rest of the day she watched Finder and other editors and reporters work in each of the newspaper’s departments. Finkelstein says she got a taste of how professionals research stories and meet deadlines.
“It gave me an idea of how a newspaper is put together as well as the hours involved,” she adds.
Finder, father of Lauren Finder ’08 (Ridgewood, N.J.), has mentored a number of students over the years, but Finkelstein, Milnes, and Comerford were his first from Lafayette.
“When I was in my early 20s, after college, a number of reporters and editors were extremely nice to me,” he says, explaining that a former Times sports editor was especially helpful, spending nearly two hours talking to him about “how the world of journalism worked.”
“He said, ‘there’s only one thing I want to ask you to do in return,’” Finder says. “‘When you get to be in the business, I want you to extend your hand to the next generation.’”
Finder, a former news reporter who now assigns and edits investigative and analytical sports stories, says his sense of journalistic balance extends to how he relates to students.
“I’m trying to convey to them an honest and truthful sense of the positives and negatives of the business,” he says. “I’m not trying to dazzle them.”
Finkelstein serves as a writing associate and orientation leader. She also is president of Cadence, Lafayette’s female a cappella singing group, and vice president of programming for the Delta Gamma sorority. She graduated from Syosset High School.
Chosen from among Lafayette’s most promising applicants, Marquis Scholars like Finkelstein receive special financial aid and distinctive educational experiences and benefits including a three-week, Lafayette-funded study-abroad course during January’s interim session between semesters. Marquis Scholars also participate in cultural activities in major cities and on campus, and mentoring programs with Lafayette faculty.