Braunte Petric, A CMF Experiential Learning Success Story

Student, Braunte Petric working with camera at her internship. CMF Internship course student in action at placement

February 12, 2019 - Hellene Meyer


Are you a CMF student looking to get more out of the program with some more hands-on experience in your desired field? Do you want to make strong industry connections? Read about a fellow CMF student’s success story from being involved in our CMF internship program!


For a lot of Communications Media & Film (CMF) students, it can be difficult to make the leap from intense critical theory and film production to practical experience, industry know-how, and strong professional networks. Braunte Petric, a fourth-year CMF student, found her own personal solution to this problem through the CMF Internship course, not once, but three separate times!

The UWindsor student said in an interview about her internship experiences that she had questions about herself she was looking to answer. “What [were] my talents? Did I want to work in an office? What was I good at? The only way for me to truly know the answers to these questions would be to go out and work in different fields,” she continued.

Braunte touts supportive supervisors, her internship advisor, and the Career Development & Experiential Learning (CDEL) office for helping her learn to be strong, responsible, and confident in her abilities, all of which are qualities employers are looking for. She stated that her experiences pushed her to be strong minded, more professional, and showed her that she wanted to work in media as a creative director rather than in an office environment. Braunte feels that the placements she completed will be an immense help in achieving her career goal “My role as an intern helped me confirm that I love working with cameras, I love being the creative head and being in charge of my own work,” she added.

When asked how she balanced her placements with her class schedule, she spoke about how the course counts for credit and that “it’s not hard to balance an internship with your other courses, because it’s just like having a job, except you’re only in four demanding courses instead of five.”

“I would definitely recommend this experience to other students.” said Braunte. She suggests that it’s a great way to get the necessary experience that employers want and can set a student’s resume apart from others applying for the same jobs. “I am someone who doesn’t enjoy sitting in a classroom learning theory. I learned more about myself then I ever thought possible, and I feel ready to go into the working world,” she concludes.

The CMF Internship course is open to Communication, Media, & Film majors (and combined majors) and is offered every semester, but applications must be received well in advance. Students interested in enrolling for this summer must apply to Prof. Susan Bryant before the February 28 deadline. Prof. Bryant can be contacted via email for the necessary application forms. Once Prof. Bryant approves a student to take the course, she refers them to CDEL’s Jane Sylvester to coordinate the placement. Jane works with each student to help them seek out a placement opportunity that meets their personal goals and interests. The placements require 120 hours of work, along with a report and attendance at a few professional development meetings.

Professor Judy Bornais, Executive Director of the Office of Experiential Learning explains that, “internships such as this highlight how experiential learning opportunities can help bridge theory with practice and allow students to apply what they are learning.  In doing so, students learn about themselves, gain valuable skills which they can apply to their future careers and make meaningful contributions to employer partners – it is a win-win.”

Students from any program interested in learning about career options or looking for some help with job search strategies are encouraged to visit Career Development & Experiential Learning office at the Joyce Entrepreneurship Centre during our Peer Advising Drop-In Hours, which run Mondays to Fridays from 10am-4pm (and 10am-2pm during Reading Week).