(Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a series of stories about internships being completed by students in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Students complete internships to learn what they like, and what they dislike, about a specific company or industry. It’s about gaining experience, making an impression and preparing for an eventual career.
For Penn State student Ty Tkacik, it’s an important process — one that started with an eye-opening moment because of the way he was, and has been, treated. He started a creative internship with Mason Inc., an advertising and digital marketing agency in New Haven, Connecticut, about a month ago.
“It started at the Success in the City career fair that the Bellisario College organizes. Mason stuck out because of all the booths that were set up Mason was the only one that you sat down, shook hands with the recruiter and had a conversation,” Tkacik said. “They were interested in getting to know me. I liked the fact I was having a one-on-one conversation with them and that kind of energy.”
Tkacik, who will graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree in advertising/public relations, along with a minor in psychology and a certificate from the Smeal College of Business, has felt valued throughout the internship. He’s working remotely and he believes he’s getting important experience.
He said the company has kept him engaged, providing real-life opportunities with big clients. The company has given Tkacik and fellow intern Audrey Azadi, a Bellisario College advertising/public relations major on track to graduate in December 2025, assignments that matter and pulled them into bigger-context discussions whenever necessary.
“It’s a smaller company, so we’re connecting with many different parts of what they do, and our work will be part of the final product,” Tkacik said. “We’re remote, but it’s a full-time internship and they keep us involved. We’re at the meetings we need to be and they pull us into other meetings that are relevant so we can see how things fit.”
Tkacik said the approach has allowed him to better grasp the industry and succeed with his own assignments.
In some ways it matches Tkacik’s overall approach to Penn State. He grew up in Curwensville, Pennsylvania, and saw the University 40-some miles from his home as a place where he could connect and succeed. His mom, Holly, works as an associate teaching professor at Penn State Dubois, and family matters. He’s the oldest of Holly and John Tkacik’s three sons.
“It was always my goal to go to Penn State and get out of my comfort zone, find ways to connect, meet different people and grow,” Tkacik said.
He has certainly been active and involved. After getting what he calls a “jump start” toward success through the LEAP Program, Tkacik has completed internships with the Wildlife for Everyone Foundation and New York-based Behrman Communications. He also served as a freelance copywriter or Argyle Interactive in Philadelphia and was a member of Happy Valley Communications.
He’s worked as the climbing wall manager and route setter for Campus Rec at the Intramural Building, and played drums for a band at bar and house shows in State College.
With just one semester left in his undergraduate academic career, Tkacik does not plan to slow down. He thinks his combination of experiences and opportunities have provided a strong foundation for his career in adverting/public relations — though he’s not much more specific than that.
“I’m really just trying to keep an open mind and take it day by day,” he said. “Realistically, I’ll probably be in the Northeast and maybe it’ll be financial communications, but there’s so much that can happen between now and then.”