AppleBlog, my name is Coleman Coco. I’m a senior student-athlete at Colgate University and project management intern here at Apple Box Studios, and I am excited to give you an insight to my time working my first internship. For starters, if someone would have asked me 3 years ago, what I would be doing this fall I would say that I would be finishing up my time at Colgate and playing my last season of college football. Now, in the present, that’s obviously not how things turned out, but I would not change a thing.
The COVID-19 pandemic set college athletics back in 2020, and on top of that, I started getting pain in my foot that would cause me to get surgery and miss the 2021 season. By rule of the Patriot league, the division that Colgate University football plays in, requires all student athletes that redshirt a season to enhance their academics during the recovery process. Knowing that I would not be returning to Colgate for school or football in fall 2021, I began searching for internships and opportunities that I could explore in my hometown, Pittsburgh. Apple Box Studios stood out to me from the jump, I was immediately very interested in the opportunity and willing to do what was needed to have a chance to intern. After the interviewing process, I was lucky enough to get a chance to work with the team. I personally cannot thank Apple Box enough for how caring they were for me during my recovery from surgery and their patience. It would be fair to understand the liability of hiring an intern that has to recover for a few weeks from surgery and hop around in a boot for a while.
During the first few weeks of the internship, it is fair to admit that I was overwhelmed at times with the amount of acronyms and information that I was working with. As I grew accustomed to the level of work and expectations at Apple Box, I was able to step up.
One of the first projects that I was able to be a part of was the Mission of Mercy nonprofit event on October 22nd. I was able to help Thad Ciechanowski as a part of the video crew at this function, and after being cancelled in 2020 due to COVID, this year’s event was especially anticipated.
By the organization’s own definition, Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh is “a free, two-day dental clinic for under-served people living in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area, many of whom are from working families who do not have access to dental work or cannot afford dental insurance. ALL services are provided FREE of charge by local dental professionals, assisted by a host of volunteers.” People who needed dental care and other medical help lined up outside of the Pittsburgh Convention Center for hours before the event even started to make sure that they could get the help they needed.
This experience helped me to understand what goes on behind the scenes when it comes to production of this scale. Whether it was meeting with TeleTracking, or shooting a commercial with Rocky Bleier, the number of moving pieces that go into the production of one event really impressed me. 
Most of all, the charity of others was moving to witness in person, to say the least. Seeing so many giving doctors and helpers go out of their way to make sure the community is taken care of really hammers home the feeling of compassion. Altogether, witnessing the work that we put in at Apple Box Studios come to life at the event made the work feel all the more rewarding. So, while I recover and continue my internship at Apple Box Studios, I look forward to seeing our next project come to life.
