Co-op Student of the Year Honors for C.W. Post Junior

Gina Aflalo spends her days at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University learning how to produce television programs, but for the second time this year, she’s been the subject of some very exciting headlines.

Aflalo, of Derby, Conn., has earned the New York State Cooperative and Experiential Education Association (NYSCEEA) Student of the Year Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in, and contribution to, cooperative education. Earlier this year, she was in the news when she received a $10,000 scholarship from New York Women in Communications, Inc. and was photographed with celebrities such as Gina Davis and Katie Couric.

By participating in the C.W. Post Professional Experience and Career Planning (PEP) program, Aflalo has compiled a resume as a college junior that some broadcast veterans would envy. She landed an internship at Atlantic Video in New York City her freshman year, where ESPN’s morning show “Cold Pizza” is taped. Her performance was so impressive that she was hired to freelance with the company as a production assistant and teleprompter operator.

In the spring of 2006, Aflalo interned at Telecare, the cable television station of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. During the summer of 2006, she also interned at Raw Media Network, a digital editing house in Manhattan. On campus, she serves as president and station manager of Post TV and produces and directs its live talk show. Aflalo is committed to her education and has achieved a 3.80 grade point average and membership in the C.W. Post Honors Program. She also is a member of the Xi Chapter of the Kappa Theta Epsilon National Cooperative Education Honor Society.

“Gina is a role model for every electronic media major,” said Nicole T. Wolfrath, PEP senior cooperative education coordinator. “She has taken full advantage of the resources given to her and accepts every challenge presented. Her enthusiasm has encouraged other electronic media students to participate in the Cooperative Education program.”

Aflalo is the second student in the PEP program to win the Student of the Year award in the past nine years. NYSCEEA presented the award to Aflalo at its annual conference on October 22-24, 2006 in Lake Placid.

PEP assists students in obtaining both paid and unpaid internship opportunities called "co-ops" (which stands for cooperative learning) for students in every major. Through PEP and Co-op, students can gain hands-on work experience, build a resume, receive career counseling, and conduct job searches through on-line databases, which contain thousands of potential employers nationwide.

For additional information about PEP or Co-op, call (516) 299-2435 or visit www.liu.edu/pep.

Posted: November 6, 2006