University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagle Soars At CBS
9/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Golden Eagle Soars At CBS
Senior women's tennis player Nikhila Narra |
While many students spent their summer vacation relaxing or back in summer school, Southern Miss Lady Eagle Tennis player Nikhila Narra spent hers interning for CBS Sports in New York City. Narra, a senior international business major, interned the entire summer for the organization, getting to know the ins and outs of one of the major broadcasting giants in the world.
?I got to see what everyone?s job was, and see how a big corporation, like CBS, is run,? Narra said. ?I hope this experience will lead to a bigger opportunity in my future after I graduate in May of 2006. Before I worked for CBS this summer, I knew that I wanted to work in finance, but after this experience, I?ve opened up to a lot of other opportunities for me to look at as well.?
Narra worked in administration and operations, assisting with daily duties that included observations of the company?s dealings with production contracts for the company and crew, contacting hotels to accommodate CBS crew travel, setting up music for upcoming sports broadcasts, as well as having some fun too as she got to do an ad-lib for the NFL Today Show and was invited to be a part of a live audience on MTV?s TRL.
While working for CBS, Narra was able to rub elbows with NFL Today Show commentators Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, Shannon Sharpe, Jim Nantz and Greg Gumbel, as well as play-by-play commentator for CBS Sports, Dick Enberg.
?Jim Nantz only had good things to say of Southern Miss,? Narra said. ?Everyone knew about Southern Miss and of the athletes that came from here. That impacted me more than anything because that?s when I realized that I?m getting to play for a school that is well-known and well-recognized.?
She obtained the job via an internship application that was sent to Women?s Tennis Head Coach Randy Rowley.
?Coach Rowley likes helping us find opportunities working in the real world,? Narra said. ?He wants us to be open to the different cultures of the working world, being in another environment and adapting to other people and learning to communicate. Ultimately, it?s taking what we do here somewhere else.?
With a summer of experience working for a well-known organization under her belt, Narra looks forward to passing on the knowledge she gained to other Southern Miss students who could also benefit in a similar opportunity.
?We don?t hear about these opportunities as much in this part of the country,? Narra said. ?I think that CBS would look twice at Southern Miss, since they?ve now had someone from the school. I think that it was a great experience for me, and I?m very thankful to CBS. I think that whoever represents Southern Miss next will do just as good of a job, if not better.?