As a summer intern at Time Warner Cable News in Charlotte, North Carolina, Danielle Koyles was involved in local breaking news on a daily basis. When a national story of a mass murder broke, she quickly began gathering information like a professional.

Koyles, a senior majoring in communications and digital media, had been interning at the station for two weeks when nine African Americans were gunned down at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. 

As she recounted, the news room was a flurry of activity with police and ambulance scanners relaying details of the emergency. The shooter’s name was not yet known and the TV station managers were feverishly working the story to get that information.

“I just jumped on the computer and I was looking on the internet to see what I could find. I came across Dylan Roof’s name on Twitter and then I found his Facebook page and saw his photo. Fifteen minutes later the police chief said his name,” Koyles said. “I was so proud of myself for being able to find his name before it was released.”

During her summer internship, Koyles worked in various departments at the news station. Her favorite assignment was with the news photographers.

“I was shadowing a lot of reporters, producers and photographers. I am really interested in video production, so being able to go out with the photographers was a real treat,” she explained.

Koyles, who is from Stony Brook, New York, had to move to Charlotte for the internship but fortunately was able to live with her cousin who works at the station. The 10-week internship required her to be in the office at 4:30 a.m.

Some of her assignments included attending an NFL Panthers football practice and meeting Dr. Kent Brantly, a doctor who contracted Ebola while treating patients in Africa with the disease. Brantly is cured and was promoting a book about his illness. 

After graduation in May, Koyles is considering continuing her education in a master of fine arts for film program.

“I found out from my internship that I don’t want to work in the news (field). I want to do something more creative. I’m more interested in video editing,” she said.