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MONROE: Local interns at Weather Channel

BY Amy Batista, Special Writer
   MONROE — Monroe student Scott Sincoff’s fascination with the weather and a dream of working for The Weather Channel in Atlanta, Georgia came true this summer when he landed a 10-week internship at the organization.
   ”I’ve always been enthused by the weather ever since I was a little kid, it has been one of the only things that I have truly been interested in,” Mr. Sincoff said in a June 20 email from the Georgia media company.
   Mr. Sincoff said he is a junior at Rutgers University in New Brunswick where he double-majoring in Journalism and Media Studies and Environmental Policy, Institutions and Behaviors (with a concentration on Environmental Communication) and minoring in Professional Youth Work and Development.
   He said he will be working on an honors thesis in his fifth year combining weather, social media and broadcasting. He said he is still determining what his thesis project will be at this point.
   After graduation, he wants to go on to graduate school to study climate change, communication and meteorology, or work in the field as a reporter.
   He said he had experience doing the weather on the morning TV news program at Monroe Township High School and he is now currently involved with as the Associate Producer of RU-TV’s “WeatherWatcher.”
   Mr. Sincoff is the first student from the university to intern at The Weather Channel’s Atlanta headquarters, according to Steven Miller, internship coordinator for the Department of Journalism and Media Studies in the School of Communication and Information.
   This program is one of many that enable students with specialized career or academic goals to live together and immerse themselves in their chosen field of study, according to Mr. Miller.
   ”Scott is also the first student undertaking the Journalism and Media Studies internship to be chosen for this position,” said Mr. Miller. “It is a tribute to his intelligence, diligence, and dedication and foreshadows great things for his future. I have been fortunate to have him in my classes and Scott is a truly exceptional student. He always goes the extra mile to make sure he understands all assigned material and anything having to do with it. Other students turn to him for advice and help and he is always willing to share.”
   ”There are two professions that most perceive you to be a success if you are correct 30 percent of the time: baseball and meteorology,” Mr. Miller said. “To reach the pinnacle in both requires long hours of hard work, superior knowledge about the subject, and a willingness to deal with lows and highs on daily basis with the same attitude and demeanor. If that’s the case, Scott will be one of the best weather persons in the business.”
   Mr. Sincoff said he knew from an early age what he wanted to do and then talked about a moment that had an impact on him.
   ”It all started when I was around six years old, I think, when we were driving down to Florida and the classical music we were listening to in the car was in sync with the thunder, lightning, rain and wind from the thunderstorm we were driving through,” Mr. Sincoff said.
   Mr. Sincoff also talked about a time that his aunt and uncle told him stories from what they went through when Hurricane Andrew hit the City of Miami in Florida, how it destroyed their home and the process of rebuilding.
   ”I knew then I wanted to report the weather so people can get a better idea of how weather affects people,” Mr. Sincoff said. “I started to learn more about weather on my own by watching The Weather Channel and reading National Geographic and getting the Weather merit badge in the Boy Scouts.”
   Mr. Sincoff is spending 10 weeks working in Atlanta, which started on June 4.
   ”When I received the internship, it was like ‘whoa, my dream is actually coming true,’” Mr. Sincoff said. “It is really an amazing opportunity and I am learning not only about television production and broadcasting meteorology, but I am also learning about how to work in a corporate environment. So far, it has been really busy.”
   Mr. Sincoff explained what his internship responsibilities included and what he was learning in the first few weeks of the program.
   ”I’ve been shadowing video producers, floor managers and so many other positions in and out of the control room,” Mr. Sincoff said. “I have been learning how to create graphics and write scripts for voiceovers and news packages. I’ve also learned how a live show is put together and how anything in television could change in a moment.”
   He also said he is learning about the busy pace in live broadcast television.
   ”It really is daunting how fast things happen in live TV, but it is really exciting to observe and learn every single aspect of what it takes to bring television to the audience,” Mr. Sincoff said. “And I’m not even close to done 9with my internship).”