Duke student spends summer in the ballpark press box

Lauren Kobylarz enjoys an office that most people would kill for. Courtesy of Lauren Kobylarz

More Interns of the Week Lauren Kobylarz (Duke) Willie Bodrick (Georgetown) Elizabeth Bohnsack (Rutgers) Kiley Harris (WVU) Drew Weatherford (FSU)

By Mallory Rubin

Name: Lauren Kobylarz
School: Duke
Year/Age: Senior, 21
Major: English
Minor(s): Spanish, Linguistics
Internship: MLB.com associate reporter (Yankees and Mets)
Paid/unpaid: Paid
School credit: No
Hours/Duration: Every Yankees and Mets home game, Late May to mid-August

Lauren Kobylarz doesn't have an office or a cubicle. She doesn't even have a desk. But the view from her chair is hard to beat.

Kobylarz works at a ballpark. Two, in fact. Since late May, Kobylarz has been working as an associate reporter for MLB.com, covering both the New York Yankees and the New York Mets.

Kobylarz's summer in a press box was made possible by the Association for Women in Sports Media's (AWSM). The AWSM provides lucky female students interested in pursuing a career in sports media with a $1,000 scholarship, an internship and a trip to the AWSM convention in Dallas. AWSM sends the application materials of 5-10 scholarship hopefuls to media organizations that have agreed to employ a scholarship recipient. Each organization then selects an intern. Kobylarz found out in December that MLB.com had chosen her and she immediately accepted the offer.

Kobylarz splits her time between Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium, as the teams have opposite home and away schedules. Though her schedule is a bit erratic (she works 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. for day games and 3 p.m.-11:30 p.m. for night games), she has seamlessly shifted into the life of a major league beat writer.

"It's one of those things that it's tough, but you love what you're doing so you're not really focused on that part of it," Kobylarz said. "It's something to get used to, but it's totally worth it. It's not that hard. As a college kid, you're always adjusting to what you have to do and when you have to do it, so it's not really that much of a transition, I guess."

Though Kobylarz said she couldn't ask for a better job, she does not want people to think it's all fun and games.

"You're going to a Major League Baseball game every day," Kobylarz said. "Who doesn't want to do that? That's really cool. But at the same time, it's a job. You're working, you're not just sitting there. You're working constantly, all through the game, before the game, after the game."