Why internships | Alumni & Buddies

By Jake Strautmann | Published June 2026

Maddie Malhotra (COM’19) all the time knew she wished to show her curiosity in photojournalism right into a profession. She additionally knew that getting internships could be her bridge. So, from her first yr at BU, she targeted on discovering one.

Malhotra wished an internship to complement her classwork at BU, so she “wasn’t learning about photography in a vacuum,” she says. Having her work “live and breathe” out on the planet was key to her growth. Shooting hockey for The Daily Free Press, or Freep—studying the right way to cowl a single crew all through a season—was one strategy to obtain that; interning as a meals photographer on the Improper Bostonian was one other.

But when Malhotra’s friends at COM and the Freep nudged her towards a images internship with the Boston Red Sox, she thought its storytelling potentialities sounded good. And when a professor gave her the title of a former scholar who was then the crew photographer, she had a contact to assist with this crucial subsequent step.

So she was crushed, she says, when she utilized for the primary time in 2018 and didn’t get the position.

As it turned out, although, “that rejection was one of the best things to happen to me,” Malhotra says. “It lit a fire in me to assess why I wanted to work for the Red Sox specifically, and I got powerful feedback from the manager of photography.” The subsequent summer season, she received the coveted spot.

That internship led to 2020—as a result of the Red Sox employed her as a workers photographer. Today, Malhotra is the supervisor of images, conceptualizing and executing picture shoots for Boston Red Sox publications. She additionally hires summer season interns.

“From day one, this was the real thing. These were photos that were going to be logged into the history of the Red Sox.”

It’s necessary to get an internship early on in school, Malhotra says, as a result of it teaches you the right way to work as a member of a crew. “It immediately felt different working with four or five photographers, trying to complement what the other person was shooting,” she remembers, noting that it additionally expanded her concept of what she may do as a photojournalist and the way she may apply her journalism diploma.

“Being exposed to internships early on opens your eyes to the many paths you can take,” she says. “I never wanted to be a food photographer, but it still informs what I do at the Red Sox—taking photos of Fenway Franks, for example. Especially early on, you might not get your dream internship, but those smaller internships can really educate your process in ways you wouldn’t expect.”