I recently did a student panel for SCA Admissions with prospective students and felt like I was transported to freshman year. I remember what it felt like to be a freshman in SCA. You are fed compliments about how you got into one of the best film schools in the country, itching to be on set, and daydreaming about winning an Oscar. I don’t mean to come off as a debby-downer when I say this, but the reality is that most students enter SCA with a strict plan on where they want to be after college is over and then a few semesters into the program realize that their initial path isn’t what they want anymore.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. Graduating, starting a “big girl job,” and the pressures of building three to five years of work experience into a shot at “entry-level” positions is ever tumultuous and fast approaching. As a PR student in Annenberg, it’s been ingrained in me by professors, upperclassmen, and LinkedIn culture that each student, on average, completes six internships throughout their studies at USC before they graduate. I think this toxic mindset of completing fall/spring/summer internship cycles year after year to merely make progress towards this “six” number only backs students into a corner of doing work they aren’t passionate about.

By: Ani Antonyan ‘24

As I scrambled through Handshake looking for a summer internship last year, I noticed a lot of job offerings were remote or hybrid. I ended up landing a fully remote internship for a company based in London. If you’re job hunting, or have a remote or hybrid job lined up for the summer, here’s my take on the unexpected challenges that come with remote work, along with tips for navigating the ins and outs of the workspace.