Kayla Carrick, a junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been awarded an internship that will place her at Bloomberg News in New York City this summer.
A double major in religious studies and journalism and mass communication, Carrick will work in the newsroom of Bloomberg LP, the global, multimedia financial communications firm founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The Steamboat Foundation of Greenwich, Conn., arranges internships for students at 10 participating universities. The internships – designed to help students build leadership skills based on integrity, work ethic and risk-taking – are provided by companies that partner with each school.
Carolina alumnus Peter Grauer linked UNC with Bloomberg LP, which he chairs. He also chairs the advisory board for UNC’s honors program and Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, through which the internship is awarded.
Carrick, the daughter of William Carrick and Dana Hurd of Austin, Texas, will help report and write business and economic news for the company’s print and broadcast operations, with Bloomberg columnist Tom Keene as her senior mentor.
She also will work on a summer research project chronicling market trends. All Steamboat Scholars with internships in the city are provided with housing and attend dinners and lectures by business leaders.
Carrick has received a Joseph L. Morrison Award for Excellence in Mass Communication History, a $500 merit award in the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Since fall 2005, Carrick has been a reporter, assistant editor and editor on the city desk of The Daily Tar Heel, UNC’s student-run newspaper. She interned in summer 2006 with Austin Monthly Magazine in her hometown and last summer with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette daily newspaper in Little Rock.
“I have known Ms. Carrick for the past year, and frankly, I consider her to be one of the best journalism students to have come through the school since I joined the faculty,” Chris Roush, associate professor and a business news initiative director in the school, wrote in a recommendation letter. “Despite her position as city editor at The Daily Tar Heel, she maintains a high grade-point average, something that few, if any, student newspaper editors have been able to pull off during my five years on campus.”
Besides her two majors, Carrick is seeking a certificate in business journalism at UNC. She was awarded a James M. Johnston Scholarship to come to Carolina, renewable for each of four undergraduate years. All students with financial need are considered for Johnston Scholarships, but merit determines the winners. Stipends vary among recipients according to need and cover all expenses.
Carrick said she has a passion for covering financial news and oversaw Chapel Hill business and downtown development news at The Daily Tar Heel: “I’m excited that business journalism allows me to combine my passion for reporting with my interest in the economy and numbers.”
Note: Carrick can be reached at (512) 423-4601 or kayla.carrick@gmail.com.
UNC honors program contact: James Leloudis, Ph.D., (919) 843-7754, leloudis@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589 or laura_toler@unc.edu