My Summer in the Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP)

As a Texas Advertising graduate advertising student, finding the right internship was always a stressful experience for a number of reasons. For one, the best agencies here in Austin receive tons of applicants each semester and only have a few spots to fill. Then there's the whole pay issue. If you get paid, you're lucky. If you get paid more than minimum wage, you've hit jackpot. Luckily, this summer I received the chance to participate in the Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP). Now I can give hope to all the students that a good internship at an advertising agency exists.

Anyone that has taken part in MAIP would agree that it is one of the best opportunities available for advertising students. The program is run by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, also known as the 4A's, and is a 10-week paid summer internship program for graduate and undergraduate students that have a multiracial or multiethnic background. Selected students are placed at top agencies at all the major cities across the U.S. with a majority of the travel and housing covered by the 4A's.

I was able to intern at Matlock Advertising and Public Relations in Atlanta, Georgia as a copywriter. While I was there, I was treated like a full-time employee working 9-6 writing radio, digital, and print copy that actually got produced for various clients. I also worked with the account services and creative team to sharpen my writing skills and presented each assignment directly to the Creative Director of my Agency. Aside from the work experience, I met other interns at the on-campus apartments at Emory University and explored the big city of Atlanta. I visited the world's largest aquarium, the CNN headquarters, and the skyscrapers of Buckhead. Not to mention, I got to experience the fun nightlife I had only seen on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. I also built great friendships with the people I worked with and the other MAIP interns.

An additional perk to being part of MAIP is that at end of the internship everyone is flown to New York City for a special graduation ceremony. Scholarships are given out and intern presentations are made from each city. For Atlanta, I showed off my "Copywriter's Dance" I created and had everyone in the audience participate. Following the ceremony, there is a career fair that is solely dedicated to the MAIP interns. I was able to network with tons of top agencies and was even asked to interview for a few full-time positions.

Thus, I can't say enough good things about the program and am now trying to recruit more students to apply for the 2010 MAIP program. The selection process is rigorous, but last year, more students were picked from UT than from any other school. For more information on how to apply, visit: http://www2.aaaa.org/careers/maip/Pages/maip_students.aspx