While finishing up her sophomore year in the Altman Program at Tulane University, Communication and Management major Molly Noonan stopped by the Altman office with some great news - she'd secured an internship writing for Conan in Los Angeles! Given that she'll be doing comedy writing all summer, we thought we'd throw down the challenge and ask her to write a bit about what she imagines her summer will be like!

Take it away, Molly...

"My name is Molly Noonan and I am a rising junior in the Altman Program. My SLA major is Communication and my Business major is Management. I want to go into comedy writing, so when it came time to do my internship search, I looked specifically for late night comedy shows and found out about summer internships with Conan!  Thanks, Google!

"When it came to narrowing down what I looked for in my internship experience, I knew that I wanted to learn more about the writing process (and the production process as a whole) involved in creating a late-night show like Conan, so I pretended to keep my cool as I applied for internships that I thought I would only get in a fever-induced dream where I'm somehow lucky enough to follow in the footsteps of some of my favorite writers.  Either I'm incredibly fortunate, or I'm still asleep, in which case I am much further behind in some of my classes than I previously thought.

"Applying for the internship was basically like applying for any job. I submitted a resume and cover letter via email and was then selected for a phone interview.  I was asked mainly why I wanted to be a Conan intern and what I hoped to gain from the experience as a whole, during which time I did my best not to break down into a fit of excitement and terror.  I think they believed that excuse about a bad connection making it sound like I was crying, because I'm headed to LA in a little over a month! 

"I guess the B-school professors at Tulane are telling the truth, because networking was very helpful for me during the process of earning this internship  My dad met Jimmy Pardo, who "warms up the crowd" before each show, when they were both on the road doing stand up, long before I was born.  Jimmy became a close family friend, and because he believes in me and also wants to avoid awkwardness at future get-togethers, he asked that someone "keep an eye out" for my application.  

"I wondered a lot about what my day-to-day life would be like if I managed to become an intern on Conan. I asked about this during my interview, and I learned that there's probably not going to be any such thing as an "average day".  I'm expecting to interact with people involved in all aspects of the show's production and help with whatever they need, filling any spare time by sneakily trying to find a hiding place in which I can lodge myself when the internship is over until I annoy people enough to offer me a job in return for me no longer sleeping in the studio.

"This internship is an amazing opportunity to learn what working on a late-night comedy show is really like, as well as to create connections with people who have found the secret to having a job in what my dad likes to call "the biz". I hope to create positive relationships with everyone I work with in order to continue making progress in the industry that I hope to one day call my own!"

After Molly interns in Los Angeles this summer, she will be traveling to Madrid, Spain for her Junior Year Abroad. It's definitely an exciting time! 

Thanks for sharing, Molly, and congratulations!