Most people would not connect playing the trumpet with interning in Pitt’s athletic department, but that connection seemed obvious to Rachel McGregor.
McGregor, a senior majoring in Communication Rhetoric, is a member of the Pitt Varsity Marching Band who has leveraged her membership in the band to gain a strategic communications internship with the Pitt Athletics media staff.
“Being a part of the band gave me an instant connection with athletics”, observed McGregor. “When that Pitt Athletics email came across my computer, I thought well I am a comms major, I might as well apply. I am so grateful that I did.”
Within the internship role, McGregor completes an array of tasks including photo editing, archival organization, social media posting, and creating graphics for the athletics website. As a result, she has gained proficiency in critical tools like Adobe Illustrator. McGregor said, “Being an intern with athletics has given me a greater understanding of the world of professional communications. I love the ability to be on either side of the production and have an understanding of what is going on the other side. My two roles of being a band member and an athletics content creator intertwine a lot.”
She noted that as she has learned how to do these tasks for her internship, she continuously harnesses principles from her core communication courses. McGregor cited “Television and Society,” “Digital Professional Communications,” and “Media and Consumer Culture” as particularly beneficial to her success at work.
“These courses show you how the media reacts to the media,” explained McGregor. “I can apply my skills of analyzing drama, discourse, and fandom to sports marketing. People, especially in college, have so much spirit for their teams. I look to see how they react on social media and in person to their teams’ performances. Then I think, ‘How can I best capture this moment?’”
Within her creations, McGregor has prioritized capturing athletes’ personalities when shooting for teams’ media days and during informal “mini mic” interviews. She has enjoyed getting to know the athletes from the volleyball, wrestling, gymnastics, track, and basketball teams.
“Knowing them personally makes documenting the big moments for them that much more special”. McGregor certainly felt this during the Final Four, when she filmed a video of the volleyball team huddling that acquired 800,000 views on Instagram.
What should communication majors take away from McGregor’s story? According to Rachel, it is the value of studying such a versatile, valuable field.
“Comms is actually so important. The thought process of critical thinking has translated super well into my internship. I have used classroom concepts like consumerism, body language, and graphic design skills.” She also highlighted the connection on a larger scale. She believes that, “COMMRC has taught me to look at presenting a story with my work. Comms is about looking behind the scenes, and interpreting the who, why, and how.”
As McGregor prepares for graduation this semester, she has been reflecting on her time at Pitt. Serving as a strategic communications intern for Pitt Athletics has helped her deepen her connection between her two identities of a communication student and a contributor to the athletic department. She reminds her peers to not be afraid to try new things and take that little risk of applying for something out of the ordinary as it can lead to the development of translatable skills.
“I gained extensive knowledge in publications, software, and web development. I have learned how to be efficient and detail oriented. All of these things will benefit me in my future.”
Written by Katherine Slavin for COMMRC Connect