Communications Success Stories

Thea Kalcevic

Making her dream reality through hard work, talent and perseverance, Thea Kalcevic will begin 2006 by going from the Mon Valley to the Big Apple.

A senior majoring in radio and television who will graduate this May, Kalcevic recently interviewed and emerged as a successful applicant for a 16-week internship with The Late Show With David Letterman in New York.

The Late Show accepts internship applications from college sophomores, juniors, seniors and international students in the fall, spring and summer. Kalcevic was one of 11 successful candidates from an applicant pool of 750 for this spring. Initially, the field of 750 applicants was dwindled to just 22 people who traveled to New York for interviews. Kalcevic interviewed November 1 with The Late Show's Janice Penino and was offered and accepted the internship two days later.

"I interviewed with her [Penino] first, but it was a three-hour-long interview, and they take each applicant through every department," said Kalcevic. "I am very excited. This is a dream and really something I can't even explain how I feel about right now, because it is something I have worked so hard for. To get to this point in my life is unbelievable. For a small-town girl to be going to the Big Apple is just incredible."

Kalcevic will be working with the Letterman Show's writing department.  As the writers' intern, she will be responsible for assisting the head writers, gathering comedy material, researching information and running errands, such as distributing tapes to different departments and getting show rundowns for the head writers.

"I have the experience with the production aspects of television," Kalcevic said. "The writing of scripts is also a part of production. That is where it all starts; so, the writing department is going to open my eyes and make me look at things in a different way."

At award-winning California University Television (CUTV), Kalcevic has worked in a number of on-air and behind-the-scenes roles. In front of the cameras, she served as CUTV News Center's entertainment editor last spring and announced this past fall's Homecoming Parade.

 "This will be well worth it in the end," Kalcevic said. "This experience will pave the way for the rest of my future, and that is how I have to look at it. This internship is going to open so many doors for me and what a better way to do it than with the David Letterman Show."