Yong Ho Cho, Joe Dursi, Keston Roberts, and Felix Velez are all BMCC students with their sights set on careers in high-tech computer graphics and animation. During the 2005 Fall Semester, Jon Dash of the Cooperative Education Department put them in touch with Kathleen McGrath, Senior Director of the Office of Communications and Marketing for New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. Ms. McGrath and her colleagues were in need of a new website that would feature HHC’s outstanding art collection, which is located in various hospitals around the city. The students were in need of industry experience as they prepared to complete their associate’s degrees and transfer to four-year schools. Out of this alliance between BMCC and HHC was born an internship opportunity for these four students to take an actual multimedia project from inception to completion.
The students’ website was unveiled at a reception on the morning of December 8 at the NYC HHC office on Water Street. The four of them stood, well groomed, smiling, and quiet, while the coordinators and directors sung their praises. “BMCC interns are well prepared by the faculty,” Ms McGrath said. “They’re focused and mature.” Professor Dash commented on the significance of their achievement. “The completion of an entire project during an internship is usually graduate level work.”
Their website displays a series of visual art works: Keith Haring’s colorful banners, a lithograph by Jacob Lawrence, Abram Champanier’s fanciful paintings of characters from Alice in Wonderland exploring New York City, Agnes Martinez’s Baby Viewing, among others. A moving timeline that the students created animates the screen.
After the presentation, the students moved toward the buffet table for some breakfast, but the crowd kept drawing them back for pictures and questions. A representative from the mayor’s office expressed interest in having BMCC students intern at City Hall; he said he had a project in mind. After about 30 minutes, Cho, Dursi, Roberts, and Velez were able to sit down with some bacon and eggs.
“In many ways it was a stressful internship,” Velez said. “The city uses unique software and we trained on Macromedia Dreamweaver. We had to come up with some creative solutions.”
“There needs to be very good communication between the students and the client,” Roberts said in response to a question about any advice they might offer to new interns.
The students range in age from 21 to 26. Roberts, 21, was born in Trinidad/Tobago and has been in the United States for five years. Cho, 26, was born in Korea and served in the Korean military for two years before coming to the United States three years ago. Velez, 23, dropped out of high school and worked as a baker before returning to school to pursue his love of art. Dursi, 26, thought he wanted to be a computer engineer and spent three years at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn before transferring to BMCC to improve his design skills. They all agreed that BMCC had provided them with great professors who had given them good direction both inside and outside the classroom.
They also agreed that the internship had been a valuable experience. Velez inclined his head toward his team. “It’s been a pleasure working with these guys.”
The students’ website is not yet live, but it should be soon. Go to www.nyc.gov/hhc/ for information. For information about internship opportunities, see Professor Jon Dash in N766 or contact him at 212-220-8057.
