6 years, 11 months ago Mike Moyers
Former STARadio intern working in DC for Congressman LaHood this summer
Over the years the STARadio Corp has, enjoyed helping shape young people as they attempt to get a better look at life choices. It’s called an intern program. And I feel that ours is one of the best. We’ve had a countless number of interns here over the 18 years I’ve managed the Quincy/Hannibal group, some of whom have gone on to bigger and better things. 
Listeners will recognize the names of Beau Becraft, Samantha Barnes, Bryan Nichols and, of late, Denise Donley-Talcott. In fact, those four were members of my full time staff for a number of years.Last summer we were blessed to have Addi Ippensen of Payson spend some weeks of her summer with us here. She immediately latched onto anything and everything that she was introduced to. And she took a particular interest in working with Sean Secrease and Quaid on WTAD’s The Morning Meeting.
“I had no idea of all the wonderful things I would get to do with you guys here,” Addi shared moments after appearing on WTAD’s News Round Table. “Sean, Quaid and Denise helped me learn the ropes and kind of just sent me out to do things that I would have never gotten to do anywhere else. And I’m so thankful for that.”
The hands on, don’t be afraid of making a mistake, environment she enjoyed with her radio internship has propelled her to bigger and better things for this summer.
“I used what I learned this past summer to show the experience I have for this next internship. When they asked “what kind of political experience do you have and what kind of communications experience do you have?- I had all of that on my resume and I had actual sound to give them to listen to which gave them a better idea of who I am.”
The “they” in this case is the staff of Congressman Darin Lahood of Illinois. Addi will be an intern for LaHood in Washington, DC from late May through early August. It’s both an opportunity and scary at the same time.
“I don’t know too many people out there,” she admitted. “It will be nice since I’m living with other interns so it’s kind of like a learning process for everyone. It’s one of those things I just have to jump into and not think about it too much.”
The excitement of interning for a Congressman is one thing, but living in a huge population base like Washington is another.
“This will pay off in the long run,” Addi continued. “This is an unpaid internship so I don’t get paid now but the doors this will open and the opportunities I’m going to get will be great. I wanted to intern in DC because I don’t know if I could ever live and work in DC as a professional for the rest of my life. So, this is sort of a test run.”
With 2 more years left at the University of Illinois Ippensen’s five-year plan still has a few blanks open, but she’s got a pretty good idea of what she would like her future to consist of.
“Getting this experience now is really cool and should be very helpful down the road. My ideal job would be in political communications; working on the staff of an important political person or political organization. That would be great.”
So is Addi Ippensen the next Tomi Lahren? Probably not. But whatever Addi Ippensen puts her mind to we’re all sure she’ll be great at it.
