Trisha Valliere a NESCom student designs her own future

2013 May 8

It's very rare these days for a college student to find a paid internship, but a junior at the New England School of Communications in Bangor has managed to snatch one, up along with a $3,000 scholarship for next semester. Trisha Valliere of Lebanon, Maine is one of just two post-secondary education students to receive a 2013 Direct Marketing Scholarship from the New England Direct Marketing Association Foundation or NEDMA.

"It is a pretty neat internship. Its through NEDMA, which is a group, made up of people who all own their own business. One is a copywriter, one has their own print shop," explained Valliere. "The group got together to create an organization to help students."

Valliere, studying marketing communications, recently met the NEDMA group in Boston. "During the interview they gave you a set of questions about your past experiences in marketing. I had my portfolio with me with some photography pieces. I had a lot of graphic design pieces I had for NESCom, which is what I do for my work-study job. And I had direct mail pieces in there [that I made]," said Valliere.

NEDMA sends scholarship packets to colleges and universities throughout New England each year. Nancy Roberts, the director of the marketing communications program at NESCom is thrilled Valliere stood out among all the other scholarship candidates. "It's been a joy to see Trisha's confidence grow as she has gone through this process. I'm so pleased that she is being recognized for her hard work and dedication to her education," said Roberts.

Valliere isn't sure where her internship will take place this summer, but she's hoping it is somewhere out of state."I'm from a very small town so I wouldn't mind going to a city," said Valliere. "I'm willing to go anywhere - Portland, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Burlington, Vermont. I may even go to Florida because I have a cousin down there [I could stay with]," explained Valliere.

And although the details of her actual job description are still being finalized, Valliere is a woman who knows exactly what she wants out of her internship. "I want my internship in branding and graphic design. That would be good," she said.

For more information on the New England Direct Marketing Association, log onto www.nedma.com.