Ferris State University students gain valuable work experience through internships.
Internships also can confirm or redirect career decision-making, provide marketability,
develop people skills and enhance classroom learning. Many academic programs require
one, but the experience is encouraged regardless to provide students with a better
understanding of what will be expected of them in the workplace.
Many students are participating in myriad internships this summer. Meet:
Wagner Koop
He is: A senior from Midland, Michigan studying Television and Digital Media Production finishing his final semester with an internship at fission3, a video post-production company in Kentwood, Michigan, owned by a 2009 TDMP graduate, Derek Rottman. Koop transferred to Ferris after earning an Associate of Applied Science at Delta College, in University Center, Michigan.
What he’s learning: How to produce animation and add graphics to source video provided by fission3’s industrial and corporate clients. “They ship us their work, we can create the elements needed to provide them with training materials. One of the projects I have worked on will serve as a company’s YouTube ad.”
Future Plans: Wagner is in his second semester of internship activities, and was excited to move to Grand Rapids and further his skills at fission3. “I am very much enjoying my time in Grand Rapids, though much of the work I am doing could be received and shipped to clients from anywhere. I still have much to learn about animation and graphics, but I feel like I have improved my skills. As to Grand Rapids, the art, activities and social opportunities for a young professional are great here.”
Advice for students seeking internships/experiences: “Stick with it. I developed my interest in producing animation after I began my studies at Ferris. That has only grown since I began this internship. It’s a lot of fun, and gratifying to be able to apply what I learned in the classroom and labs.”
Ferris Core Values Wagner Relates to: Collaboration. “It’s a big part of the work that is done in my field. There’s a TDMP
class which requires production of 30-minute television programs and other segments
that call for real collaboration, and our instructors really encourage us to pursue
Excellence in our work.” Koop also found diversity to be important during his time
on the Ferris campus. “It was an encouraging, and inclusive atmosphere. Some of my
classmates were Native Americans, and there are many women in the TDMP program. It’s
more than a bunch of guys producing videos.”
MEET THE INTERNS HOMEPAGE
PHOTO CAPTION: Wagner Koop, a senior from Midland, Michigan, is studying Television and Digital Media Production at Ferris State University. He has been serving as an intern at Fission3 in Kentwood since January of this year.