Entertainment has great power to bridge gaps between identity groups, says first generation Indian American student.
Indian American student Ruhi Mansey of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is one of just 50 students chosen from across America to participate in the Television Academy Foundation’s prestigious 2021 Summer Fellows program.
She will be a Physical Production/Business Management Fellow through the Television Academy Foundation’s program this summer, according to a Foundation press release.
“It’s easy to get lost in the large scope of the entertainment industry, but the Foundation is providing students with opportunities to prepare us to better navigate the business,” said Mansey.
“To know that Television Academy members themselves chose me for this program is fulfilling and reassuring that I’m finding my place in this industry.”
“One of the great powers of entertainment is its ability to bridge gaps between identity groups,” said Mansey.
Read: 2022-2023 Fulbright Fellowship application season opens in India (March 8,2021)
“Growing up as a first generation Indian American in South Florida, I was surrounded by my culture on the weekends, and taken completely out of it on the weekdays at school.”
“Discovering cable television in third grade became my way of relating to others through watching and discussing television episodes weekly. This sparked my fascination with visual arts and a career that started all the way back in my middle school green room studio,” Mansey said.
Typically, the Television Academy Foundation’s annual Internship Program provides 50 internships, at top Hollywood studios and production companies, to college students nationwide every summer, the release said.
However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Television Academy Foundation has had to re-imagine its internship program this year offering the 50 students selected from across the country the chance to either intern remotely or enroll as a Summer Fellow, it said.
The Summer Fellows Program includes virtual one-on-one visits with professionals in a student’s field of study, online panels with leaders in the television industry, and customized seminars covering personal brand building and navigating the job market ahead.
Fellows also become life-long members of the Foundation’s alumni family giving them access to events and networking opportunities as they build their careers in the industry.