By Victoria Borowski

The NBC Page Program offers arguably one of the most desired entry-level positions in the world of media. The goal is to foster the growth and talent of young, aspiring media-lovers. The page Program is a demanding program that often leads to bigger and better things at NBC.

Little did I know that Daniela Pierre-Bravo, an actual NBC page I had once witnessed on the “TODAY Show” and “30 Rock,” would be greeting me on one of my first trips inside NBC.

According to Pierre-Bravo, “After those two internships I became more confident in my avenue to go into media, and so I applied for the page program that following semester.”

Fordham students Emily Pandise, FCRH ’14, and Celia Aniskovich, FCRH ’14, have just succeeded in securing page positions after a daunting interview process just like Pierre-Bravo’s.

Pandise stresses her love for storytelling, which since high school, has led to an interest in television production. Once a treasurer at her high school’s station, WYHA, Pandise made the transition into producing both Fordham Nightly News in college and later, Fordham Mornings beginning in the spring of 2012. What started as strong campus media involvement turned into an official NBC internship in January of 2013 with “Weekend Today” and then “Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” the following fall of her senior year.

So what does the process of becoming a page actually look like? It is not exactly the simplest of processes. Following an initial phone interview, comes a panel interview, which is then followed by a one-on-one interview with a few high-level NBC executives. Then there is the final creative presentation about their life, using just one prop.

For Pandise, her creativity comes from her love of theater, yet she argues that television brings both the art of telling a story and entertaining audiences to a whole new level. “I’ve always thought of myself as a storyteller. There’s something really special about the way people connect with TV as opposed to other mediums,” she said.

“Those mediums are not in your living room the same way TV is and I feel like people really connect with characters over really long periods of time,” Pandise said. She refers to the TV show “Friends” as an example of this. “You get attached to those people – they’re in your home with you every week for ten whole years! There’s something special about that, and I think that there’s something special about how NBC does that too.”

Aniskovich took a similar approach at her presentation as she also found it important to tell her own story, in a very appropriate “newsy” fashion, in the form of a traditional news rundown. Aniskovich is no stranger to the world of media as her experiences with the industry trace back to her elementary school days in Branford, CT, and not to mention her eight internships including “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and “The Evening News with Brian Williams.”

As with any great success story, the moment of finding out you were accepted into the program is a crowd pleaser to say the least. Pandise describes the moment she received word of the coveted missed call from 30 Rock.

“My roommate was home, and she was in the middle of writing a paper. It was her busiest day of the semester and I’m like, ‘Becky, I need you to hold my hand as I listen to this voicemail!’…I still have the voicemail saved, and they told me I got it, and I immediately started crying. Like big, ugly cartoon tears, like boop boop boop out of the corners of my eyes.”

So what is to come for Pandise and Aniskovich? Where will the Rams head first?

Perhaps they’ll be on assignment at Saturday Night Live, as Pierre-Bravo once was, or maybe they’ll be in charge of assimilating NBC interns into the crazy world of politics-meets-media at Studio 3A.

What is certain is that while the page program is not the end all be all for careers in media, as Pandise puts it, it provides an immersive learning experience for those interested in pursuing a career in media.

Michael Meehan, FCRH’14, was also accepted to the Page Program after the time of this article.