Corporate Communications major Ty Cole is working as the community relations intern for the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation. It's the type of work he hopes to do full time after graduation in May.
By: Alexa DiPietrantonio
Penn State Beaver senior Ty Cole wound up, took the shot on net and scored his dream internship with the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation.
In August, the corporate communications major applied for two positions with the Penguins and ended up getting the community relations internship, his first choice. It helped that he had an impressive application, including a stellar reference from his campus mentor.
"(Director of Enrollment) Dan Pinchot wrote my letter of recommendation and it was beautiful,” Cole said. “I can't thank him enough."
As the community relations intern, Cole runs the foundation's social media accounts, composes the e-newsletter, fulfills donation requests, and works most game nights.
His typical day consists of checking voicemails, deciding what to post on social media, and then whatever other projects they need him to do. But the very first thing Cole does each morning at the office is say good morning to everyone — even if the president of the foundation is in a meeting with someone important.
“This is what I want to do in the future,” Cole said. “It’s very rewarding and I love interacting with the people.”
As you can probably imagine, Cole’s favorite part of interning for the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation is interacting with the players at different events such as the Summer Sticks Golf Classic, one of the organization’s signature events, as well as the Penguins and Paws Charity Pet Calendar shoot.
“Every year the foundation makes a pet calendar shoot with puppies from the Humane Animal Rescue and then sells those calendars,” Cole said with a smile.
In addition to interning 15-20 hours per week, Cole is involved with numerous clubs and organizations on campus. When he’s not working with the Penguins, Cole is president of the Student Government Association, a senior staff writer for The Roar, and one of the captains for the men’s baseball team.
His advice to other students looking for internships is to “apply to everything, even if it is out of your comfort (zone) — you never know. You really never know.”
Although Cole still has one more semester before graduating, he has already started applying for jobs. Upon graduation, Cole hopes to get a position with a professional sports team in community relations or community affairs.
