Wooster student explores social media management at local theater during APEX Fellowship

Tyler Rak ’24 spent his summer working as an intern for Lyric Theater of Wooster researching small theater operations, managing social media accounts, and supporting their executive board. Rak, a political science and history major with minors in religious studies and South Asian studies, learned of this APEX Fellowship opportunity through the Digital & Visual Storytelling Pathway at the College of Wooster. During his time with the Lyric Theater, he prioritized researching social media campaigns of similar theaters in order to best meet their needs. Under the mentorship of Grit Herzmann, associate professor of psychology and department chair of neuroscience, Rak improved his skills in website design and social media management. He will continue in this position through this year and hopes to continue doing similar work thereafter.  

“My APEX fellowship was a great blend of historical and contemporary research mixed with arts administration tasks, which my courses have done a great job preparing me for.”  

—Tyler Rak ’24 

How did you learn about the internship opportunity for your APEX Fellowship?  

“I found out about this opportunity through the Digital Visual Storytelling Pathway at Wooster and the history department. It was a great blend of historical and contemporary research mixed with arts administration tasks which my courses have done a great job of preparing me for.” 

What interests you most about the work you did? 

“The research I did on other small theaters’ social media campaigns was one of my favorite tasks since it gave me insight into how they operate and how they utilize social media. I used many of these sites as starting points for our social media campaign.” 

Who was your fellowship mentor and how did they help you to succeed in this position? 

“Grit Herzmann was my fellowship mentor. She gave me space to talk every week about what I learned and the skills that I acquired throughout my internship. She also helped to iron out any issues that came up at any point in my internship.” 

What are some skills you’ve learned that you see yourself carrying forward in your career? 

“Communication skills, website design, and creating a social media presence.” 

How has the internship helped you to see what’s next for you?  

“I will actually be continuing my internship over the next year and hope to look into working with nonprofits again in the future.” 

Posted in Experiential Learning, Showcase Stories 2023 on August 11, 2023.