In Profile: Senior's Semester Hits High Note with Nashville CMT Internship
Kaitlin Spraberry spends her Lubbock nights playing on stages across Lubbock, but this fall she got the chance to see first-hand the Nashville stages where legends play. Through her experiences as an agricultural communications major at Texas Tech, Spraberry spent the semester as a music strategy and marketing intern for CMT (Country Music Television), a Nashville-based cable television network.
Her job responsibilities included helping screen new music videos, editing promotional materials for the web, and managing social media accounts. The Anson native also said she's had the opportunity to attend tapings of the "CMT Crossroads" television show, sit in on artist interviews, attend weekly social media planning meetings, and attend several country music events and parties.
"A lot of the time, it felt like I was an actual employee," Spraberry said. "CMT really makes an effort to give their interns opportunities. They gave us real work experience on a daily basis."
Spraberry heard about the internship opportunity when she was perusing the CMT website in her dorm room as a freshman. She had to be a junior-level student to apply, and was rejected twice before finally receiving offers from three different CMT departments this year. CMT is owned and operated by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom.
"I've already taken away so much from this internship," Spraberry said. "From being diligent during the application process, to leaving my comfort zone by moving out of state, to everything I've done in my daily tasks, it's been a huge learning experience."
Spraberry stressed that her agricultural communications courses gave her the experience in advertising, marketing, graphic design and web design to prepare her for this experience. After graduating in May, she hopes to return to Nashville and work in the music industry. "Ultimately, agricultural communications has made it possible for me to take a passion for agriculture, turn it into a degree, and use it to follow my dream of having a music-related career," Spraberry said.
Written by Kelsey Shaw
CONTACT: Steve Fraze, chairman, Department of Agricultural Education and Communications, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2816 or steven.fraze@ttu.edu
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