Olympic experience 'priceless' for 3 local Purdue students

Three Purdue University students have spent the last few weeks learning about the top cycling contenders in the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Seniors Valerie Arias of Arlington Heights, Megan Jahrling of Mount Prospect and Traci Gillig of Roselle all aimed to be veritable experts in the sport before they left on Saturday, and with good reason.

They were chosen by the Beijing Olympic Committee to work as media liaisons this summer at the National Media Center in Beijing, covering the cycling events for the English-speaking media affiliates, including NBC, CNN and the BBC.

"It's incredibly exciting, and something that I think will change the way I think," Gillig said. "The Chinese culture is changing and evolving, so to be immersed in it is a rare opportunity."

All three are communications majors at Purdue, and they went through an intensive application process on campus to be among the 15 students selected from a pool of 100 applicants.

This week they begin a monthlong training session, led by members of the Beijing Organizing Committee, to prepare for their assignments.

"We will learn about (indoor) track cycling, motocross racing, mountain bike racing and road racing," says Jane Natt, assistant professor in Purdue's communications department, who will be leading the student group, "so we can help gather quotes from the athletes, write recaps of the races and assist media with photography and video needs."

Jahrling, a 2004 Hersey High School graduate, and Gillig, a 2005 Lake Park High School graduate, have been tapped as flash quote reporters, dispatched to get short, quality comments from English-speaking cyclists.

"The quotes get entered into a system, and are available to any reporter that wants them," says Jahrling, who served as yearbook editor at Hersey and played soccer, but never competed in cycling.

Arias, who is pursuing a film and video studies degree, has been assigned as a photo room aid, in the photo services department. She figures that role will have her doing everything from getting names and caption information of competitors, to developing film.

"Basically, I'm willing to do anything they need," says Arias, a 2005 Rolling Meadows High School graduate, who worked in the yearbook, and ran cross country and played soccer while there.

All three young women have worked in the sports department at Purdue. Jahrling will be an intern this fall for the Big Ten Network, shooting video of interviews, games and press conferences, to be streamed online.

Arias, too, has assisted with video feeds for the Big Ten Network, working cameras at the Purdue basketball games, while Gillig co-hosts a sports talk show on the campus network, called "In Play."

In Beijing, the students will reside on the campus of the Communications University of China, and will be issued a uniform and media credentials to work at the Games.

The unique opportunity is considered by Purdue officials to be a study abroad experience, so students had to pay a program cost that covers their room and board, as well as their plane ticket.

However, they will receive six class credits for the internship, and besides, they say, the chance to work on the Olympics is priceless.