In February, SMU Advertising major (’16) Tien Dang was selected for the 2015 Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP). Read about her experience summer internship experience below. 
“This summer, I interned at Publicis HCG. I was also a part of MAIP (Multicultural Advertising Internship Program). In simpler terms, I participated in an intensive advertising internship. From 9am-5pm, I’d work on projects at my internship. This ranged from planning social events for the office, to writing copy for clients, and even working on an unbranded depression app for the Apple Watch for our intern project. At 5pm, I’d go home to grab dinner and would continue to work from 6-10pm, sometimes even later on MAIP’s project partnering with Weiden + Kennedy on a Nike campaign.
My first day in New York was a scene right out of a movie. I managed to get myself to Target via subway, but had no idea how to get back home. The Uber driver who picked me up not only offered me his mixtape and a date the following weekend, but also dropped me off no where near where I needed to be. My phone died and my friends that I somehow managed to find accidentally put me on the wrong train home. When I finally made it back, I realized that between lugging my purchases from Target around town, and grabbing dinner, I had lost my ID to get into my room. I was feeling discouraged, but was hopeful for better days to come.
As the summer moved forward, I became more acquainted with the city and the people that came with it. The one thing that I loved most about interning in NYC and being apart of MAIP was that I had 80 other friends who were experiencing the same things I was. We made each other laugh, cooked dinner when someone was too busy to feed themselves, and always made it a point to keep everyone motivated. As interns and fellows, we learned to work hard and save some time to play as well. We filled our free days with visits to Coney Island, stuffing our faces with delicious food at Smorgasburg, and appreciating all of the art that NYC had to offer.
By August, my internship was coming to a bittersweet end. MAIP celebrated with a week long Face of Talent program. Not only was I able to network with some of advertising’s best agencies, but I was also awarded ANA’s Multicultural Excellence Scholarship, which will help me finish out my last year at SMU. I left New York with a renewed passion for advertising, as well as an appreciation for how far I had come that summer. There aren’t many things I know for certain, but I do know that this isn’t the last that New York has seen of me.”
The 4A’s Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) connects aspiring diverse entry- level advertising professionals with prestigious advertising agencies. Since its inception in 1973, MAIP offers multicultural students a unique paid, full-time summer internship at 4A’s participating agencies nationwide, combining real-world work experience, networking opportunities within the industry, and a valuable professional credential to better position themselves in the marketplace. Simultaneously, the program offers advertising agencies the opportunity to access top talent and strengthens the 4A’s efforts to enhance the workforce diversity of our industry.