NHAT ANH NGUYEN TRANG
03.
SUMMER CAMP
Summer Camp - Immerse Education: Marketing and Entertainment Program at Barnard College, Columbia University
I got into the program on a scholarship after writing a 500-word essay about what new dimensions of storytelling film offers compared to prose. I wrote about Psycho, The Wizard of Oz, and Midsommar, analyzing how cinematic techniques shape emotion and audience experience. It felt surreal to see that my curiosity about storytelling had opened the door to an experience like this. I traveled alone from Vietnam to join the Immerse Education Marketing and Entertainment Program at Barnard College, and I was buzzing with excitement throughout the whole 20-hour flight! Stepping onto the campus was a relief due to mild jet lag, but after all the tiredness, the energy of New York City started to set my pulse racing. The streets, the buildings, the people — everything felt alive and full of stories waiting to be discovered.
Mornings were all about rolling up our sleeves in the classroom. We learned how to analyze target audiences, design branding strategies, and conduct research, working through exercises that felt like running different departments in a real media firm. I loved getting into reallyyy heated debates with my classmates about marketing campaigns to argue different approaches. Our amazing mentor, Taris, shared her own experiences in the marketing field, offering insights and real-world examples that made every lesson feel alive and connected to what actually happens in the industry.
Afternoons were pure adventure. We got to see the industry come alive in ways I had only ever imagined. Meeting the team at W Communications, I learned how PR campaigns are built from the ground up, and I found myself marveling at how much thought goes into shaping a single message. At Pekoe Group, I saw Broadway marketing in action — every poster, every social media post, even the timing of announcements told a story. Maisha Walker, founder of Message Medium, shared how digital marketing strategy works in practice, and it was fascinating to hear how creativity and analytics can actually work together. Stacy Toussaint pushed us to reflect on our own skills, helping me think about how my love for storytelling and music could connect to real career paths.
Visiting the Paley Center for Media was like stepping into a time machine, tracing the history of advertising and television while seeing how trends evolve over decades. Touring Broadway theaters and Radio City Stage made all the behind-the-scenes magic feel tangible. Watching the Rockettes rehearse and seeing the backstage logistics unfold in real time gave me a new appreciation for how much craft and coordination goes into every performance. I even got a chance to learn from Aimee, a trademark and copyright lawyer, about how law and creativity intersect — who knew intellectual property, something integral to every artists, could be so complicated in today's world? Every afternoon felt like opening a door into a whole new world, and I couldn’t get enough of it.
Beyond the classes and industry talks, I got to experience New York itself. I wandered through city streets, explored neighborhoods, and soaked in the buzz that makes the city feel alive at every corner. I saw Hamilton on Broadway, and I went to a Yankees baseball game - though I quickly realized it was almost impossible to catch up with what's going on with all the pitches, strikes, and innings. But even that could not stop me from getting swept up in the energy of the stadium and the sheer enthusiasm of everyone around me.
By the end of the program, I had learned so much about marketing, entertainment, and how creativity and strategy come together in the real world. I loved being fully immersed in the classes, the industry visits, and the city itself. Beyond the lessons, I’m so grateful for the friends I made along the way — the people I still keep in touch with today, who shared in the excitement, the late-night brainstorming, and all the little adventures around New York. The whole experience left me inspired, energized, and eager to bring what I learned back to my own projects and communities.
Camp Facilitator,
Tournament Panelist & Program Mentor, Debate Camp Aletheia 2024
