Florida A&M University’s School of Journalism & Graphic Communication (FAMU SJGC) students began the 2025-26 academic year equipped with new insights, connections and experiences after successfully completing a unique community-based training and development program in Tallahassee.
The Strike Forward Career Exploration Experience Internship Program, sponsored by the Bank of America Foundation Jobs Initiative, placed SJGC students with campus, nonprofit and business partners around Leon County this summer.
The program, a 10-week paid internship, equips students with the necessary tools for success beyond the classroom. Focusing on career readiness, Strike Forward helps participants strengthen core skills, including communication, critical thinking, leadership, professionalism, teamwork, and technology. Students also develop career and self-development habits that will prepare them to thrive in their chosen fields.
Students representing different disciplines across university programs were selected to participate, with 7 of the 17 interns being SJGC scholars.
Public relations students Amiracle Baker, a junior, and Chloe Waites, a senior, as well as Michael Trim Jr., a senior broadcast journalism student, had the opportunity to learn the behind-the-scenes work of SJGC. Baker was an intern with the school’s digital media team, and Trim and Waites interned at the campus radio station, WANM-FM 90.5.
Kazon Allen, a senior broadcast journalism student and fall 2024 transfer student from Miami Dade College, interned at the FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences/Institute of Public Health.
Jarret Johnson, a senior broadcast journalism student, interned at local business Touched by a Rose, one of Tallahassee’s premier event planning and floral companies.
Krysten Hood, a junior broadcast journalism student, interned at the Tallahassee Urban League, an affiliate of the National Urban League —a community-based organization dedicated to empowering communities and changing lives through programs in counseling, education, health, housing, job training, and civil rights.
Phillip Woodside, a junior graphic design student, interned at the FAMU Federal Credit Union, which has provided financial services to members from FAMU and the greater community since 1935. Woodside also had the privilege of serving in a second internship supporting the Career Exploration office on campus.
Additionally, SJGC hosted Maricela Carlos-Valentino, a junior majoring in business administration and music industry, as an intern on its information technology team.
Dr. Doris Roundtree, the university’s career exploration coordinator, explained that the internship program was significant for SJGC students, as community engagement equips future journalists, communicators, visual storytellers, and designers with real-world experience and in-demand skills that prepare them for successful careers.
“It is important for journalism students like ours to be able to be engaged in the campus community and the greater local community to leverage their skills and prepare for the future because the students are making a solid investment in their future through the internship,” Roundtree said. “Majors such as journalism, public relations, photography, and graphic design are in high demand on the campus and in the community. Explorers in these majors are some of the most requested for the Career Exploration Internship Program. Career Explorers from SJGC are talented, well-prepared scholars ready to take on future employment opportunities.”
Phillip Woodside completed his second year with the Career Exploration program this summer. This year, he had the opportunity to make his debut as a digital marketing intern, which brought him one step closer to achieving his dream of entering the digital marketing field.
“I got my first experience with digital marketing with a (professional) company, taking on the responsibility of treating the company as my own and brainstorming on what needs to be done to effectively make all its operations and advertising digitally accessible and appealing to the public,” Woodside said. “I am grateful to FAMU and the Bank of America Foundation Jobs Initiative for this real-world opportunity.”
Krysten Hood said her experience at the local Urban League office has better positioned her as a journalist, brander and advocate, and given her a new perspective not just as a future professional but as an engaged citizen. The opportunity she had to enhance the digital and community presence of an organization that has changed so many lives is now on her list of top achievements.
One example is her marketing efforts for the organization’s “Stronger Together” community event earlier in the summer. This event provided free hot meals and groceries for families, and even shoes for children in need.
“As I continue to hone my journalism skills and further decide what I want my career after college to look like, something I will no doubt employ will be a community-centered mindset and a motivation to create change at the grassroots level,” Hood said. “When the opportunity presented itself to work at the Urban League, I was ecstatic. As a Tallahassee local of seven years, who attended FAMU DRS, I have known of the Tallahassee Urban League. But being in the organization and helping them modernize their communications and their social media has been very rewarding.”
She added, “Making contact with community partners and utilizing my network to recruit volunteers was very enjoyable. Understanding how to talk to families, partners, and sponsors alike has been an insightful experience.”
View additional photos of SJGC’s Career Explorers below.
