Alejandro Rodriguez came to LifeSite News as an intern and has now graduated and become a full-time staffer in the company's video department. In this episode, Alejandro talks about how he got into the program and how he was able to make the transition from an intern to a full time staffer.
00:00:00.000LifeSite News has internships. You might not have known that, but it's a really exciting program that we have and we run all the time now. Interns to come and help us with writing, with the technical side, with fundraising, with all sorts of things.
00:00:13.740You're going to want to stay tuned to meet one of our interns who started off as an intern, is now a full-time staffer in our video department. Stay tuned to learn about LifeSite internships.
00:00:30.000Let's begin, as we always do, with the sign of the cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
00:00:49.740Alejandro Rodriguez, welcome to the program.
00:00:51.640Thank you so much for having me, John Henry.
00:00:53.100It's an amazing thing. You came to us first as an intern, in fact, one of our first class of interns, and you've now sort of graduated, if you will, right into a full-time staffer with LifeSite.
00:01:05.720So we want to talk to you about that experience. Let's start off. First of all, tell us how you got even into the internship program at LifeSite. How did you even learn about it?
00:01:15.300Well, to be honest, it should be all thanks to you, John Henry, because I was watching your show. I believe it was on Joe Biden a while back, and it was the very first time that we heard about LifeSite internships.
00:01:25.620It was during the lockdown, and I had a lot of free time on my hands because I was barely on summer break.
00:01:30.340So me and my dad were watching your show, and we saw the ad on LifeSite internships, and my dad just told me, like, maybe that's something you'd consider doing during the summer break.
00:01:40.080And I decided, okay, well, I'll go ahead and apply. And during that time, I was running the live stream at my church, and besides that, I didn't have any prior video experience, but I decided I'll give it a go.
00:01:50.560I'll apply for the video production internship. And from there, I met Brian Lemus, who is the director of internship at LifeSite.
00:01:58.240And it was just an amazing experience. We talked about the faith first and foremost, and one of the key words that we kind of clicked on was that we were here for God.
00:02:07.660We were here for the faith, and no matter what God was calling us to, we would do that for him and for him alone.
00:02:14.940So that's how I met Brian, and from there, I had a second interview with Jason Taylor, the video director at that time.
00:02:22.440And him and I kind of clicked on the same thing, is that we were there for God.
00:02:27.240And from there, I continued on to the orientation. And from there, I was able to meet nine other faith-filled interns who also wanted to fight for God, who wanted to give their best to him in every way they can.
00:02:43.560And it was just amazing to be able to relate to others with the faith. So that's how I became part of the internship.
00:02:50.980When you got into it, as things progressed, what did you find in terms of your professional development?
00:02:57.580You went into video, something which you didn't have an education in so much so, but yet here you are hired into something that is very technical, and yet you seem to have gotten there.
00:03:11.360And I know the head of our video department right now, Michael Hogan, is very pleased with what you're doing.
00:03:16.820So what did that transition look like?
00:03:19.860It was very different for me, because my degree was in philosophy, so you wouldn't think that a philosophy major would ever become a video person.
00:03:29.840But like I said, my mentor at the time, Jason Taylor, gave me everything that I needed to know.
00:03:34.780He taught me how to use Premiere. He taught me how to use Photoshop. He taught me how to use After Effects.
00:03:39.500So he set me up for success for real. And then Brian, who also had some background in video editing, he also gave me some pointers.
00:03:46.820And he also gave me feedback on what to build on from the experience of my internship.
00:03:52.000And even Michael Hogan, he gave me pointers on how to shoot a video.
00:03:58.000He also had some videography skills under his belt. So then he taught me how to shoot.
00:04:03.160And I kind of watched the videos that LifeSite had out already. And I just took down notes.
00:04:09.480And I thought, OK, I'll just kind of build my brand, so to speak, and just kind of build up my skill set behind what was already done at LifeSite.
00:04:17.220And then as I was transitioning with Michael Hogan in charge of the video department, that made the transition easier because we all became on the same page.
00:04:28.020We had some different creative ideas, but we were able to talk them out, bounce them back and forth.
00:04:35.340And I think we all grew as a video department because we were so open to each other.
00:04:39.680We were willing to listen to each other.
00:04:41.440What was, if you would say, what was your number one takeaway from the internship?
00:04:45.940You know, you have to be open to the will of God.
00:04:48.480I mean, could you imagine a philosophy major ever being a video person at all?
00:04:53.620I mean, it's strange to even think that, just odd in general.
00:04:58.760But really, it shows that you don't know what God has in store for you.
00:05:02.940I mean, you probably wake up one morning thinking that you're going to go to class and then someday you're going to go get a job as a teacher someday.
00:05:13.800But in order to do that, you've got to get your master's.
00:05:15.960But when I got into this job, I didn't think this would be like a career option at all.
00:05:20.840But now that I am here and now that I'm learning more things along the way, I'm just realizing there's a reason why God put me here.
00:05:28.980And, you know, this is where he needs me to be.
00:05:31.180And that's what I always pray for every morning and every day is to come Holy Spirit, descend upon me, give me your wisdom.
00:05:37.840Because I don't want to do this for myself, because if I'm doing it for myself, then it means nothing.
00:05:42.560So that's why I have to just give it all to him.
00:05:45.380And I have to give it all to our Blessed Mother, because I pray the rosary and I ask her, what do you want me to do?
00:05:51.180And she hasn't told me to do anything different yet.
00:05:54.120So I'm just going to keep plugging forward and I'm just going to pray for the best.
00:06:07.940And one of the most incredible things about it is it's such a family.
00:06:11.060It's an incredible group of supportive brothers and sisters who are all fighting in the same direction for life, for family, for faith, for culture.
00:06:19.800And really doing so with all of the talents that God provides them with.
00:07:04.140Just be willing to be surprised in general because you don't know what you're going to learn from one day to the next.
00:07:10.160I mean, I was always surprised about one little thing I didn't know about before.
00:07:16.920And, you know, I was just like, OK, well, I'm going to trust that this person who's my mentor, this person who's my supervisor knows what he or she is doing.
00:07:25.460And I just am going to follow them all the way.
00:07:28.700So don't suspend all of your beliefs when you start out.
00:07:31.780Just don't go into it thinking I know more than anybody else because you don't.
00:07:36.960Honestly, there's always going to be someone who knows better than you because there's always something to learn.
00:07:42.260No matter how long you've been in school, no matter how long you've been in your specific career, there's always something for you to learn.
00:07:49.980Wanted to also get to really the class of interns, if you will, or I know now that you're full-time staff at LifeSite, there's a sort of whole LifeSite family.
00:07:59.680But within the internship itself, I think, is a beautiful experience of peer interaction and close friendships that you develop and maintain.
00:09:55.040Well, thank you so much for that, Alejandro.
00:09:56.860And I want to tell you out there, if you or one of your children, perhaps, or someone you know might be interested in serving at LifeSite, where we do, we defend life and family, faith and culture to the best of our ability, as our Lord has called us to do, please get them to apply at LifeSiteInterns.com.
00:10:17.240For LifeSite News, this is John Henry Weston.
00:10:20.240We have been warning everyone who would listen and attempting to build up alternative platforms to continue to reach you.
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