Kevin Meyer, Tempo Editor
Pictured above: Courtney Everett had two internships during her stay at Lewis, including a summer away from home when she worked for CBS News New York in 2011.
Known around campus for her headbands and her hair flips, Courtney Everett has conquered an almost impossible workload during her stay at Lewis University. Everett’s work-related and personal achievements have garnered recognition from both her professors and her peers as she prepares to graduate this December. Everett has accomplished more in four and a half years than most college students would be able to accomplish in a lifetime. Everett started off as simply a theater major with a minor in radio/TV broadcasting and aspired to be on television one day. She knew there was a lot to experience in college and she wanted to do it all.
“When I first started here, I wanted to soak up everything, and I’m leaving with no regrets. That’s what’s most important to me looking back at everything I’ve done,” said Everett.
As part of her theater major, Everett contributed her acting and backstage presence to several productions presented by the PLT. She was first involved with the play, “Experiment with an Air Pump,” where she was both an actor and involved in the props management.
From there, she earned leading roles in the productions of “Proof” and “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” In the Jekyll play, Everett had the honor of playing a female version of Mr. Hyde, which was a role that showed Everett’s growth and capabilities as an actor. She was also the coveted role of stage manager for the musical of “Chicago.”
One of Everett’s favorite things at the theater is the now-annual Holiday Spectacular. Everett was the first students to write new material for the show. In fact, she wrote a new skit for each of the last two Christmas shows that she will be co-directing with theater manager Jo Slowik, another first for a student.
As one of her mentors at the theater, Slowik believes that there are big things in store for Everett as she moves beyond college.
“She’s a different kind of triple threat: she can act, dance and she’s more creative than most,” said Slowik. She added jokingly, “She’s just one of those students that’s going to make it, and when she does, I hope she remembers us little guys over here at the PLT.”
As her college life went on, Everett quickly realized that a minor was not enough when it came to radio and TV broadcasting. It became her second major as she contributed to the Lewis community in more ways than one. She worked as both the news director for WLRA and executive producer for WFLY-TV at different points.
Along with maintaining those major roles, she was the producer and an executive reporter for the Lewis Dispatch, the Opinions Editor of “The Flyer” newspaper for a semester and had a radio show from midnight to 3 a.m. early on in college. However, one of her biggest accomplishments involved her and Josh Bowen participating in the “To Kill a DJ” marathon broadcast to raise money for Hope Children’s Hospital, setting the record at the time to 72 hours.
“Accomplishing the marathon was great because it not only helped expand the radio and TV departments, but we also showed leadership in trying to raise money for a worthy cause,” said Everett.
Recently, the biggest accomplishment in Everett’s professional career was earning not one, but two internships for CBS News. The first in New York was a CBS Radio News internship that took place in the summer of 2011; which was a life-changing experience for Everett.
“Living in New York was probably one of the best experiences of my life. It opened my eyes to reality and a career I could really see myself doing,” said Everett.
She followed up the New York internship with another CBS internship, this time in Chicago. For this internship, she was a part of the investigative news unit where she expended her writing and research skills.
Beyond all of these time-consuming activities, she still participated on the Lewis golf team for eight semesters, and was at different times the secretary, chancellor and vice president for Sigma Delta.
All of her hard work and dedication paid off just recently when Everett was awarded the departmental award in both theater and radio/TV broadcasting, to go along with the host of scholarships she has earned over the years.
“It’s important to never take on more than you can chew, and for people who don’t know me, it may seem like I wouldn’t be able to put all my effort into everything I do, Everett said. “But it’s true; I put 110 percent into everything. It’s important for me to better myself while completing my school work and helping with the Lewis community.”
As she prepares to graduate in December, she has already applied for 28 job positions as an on-air reporter in states all around the country. Recently she has recieved a phone interview from WEAU-TV in Wisconsin as reporter/producer.
Down the road, Everett would love to finish her Second City classes so that she can audition for The Conservatory. The Conservatory in the acting world is how you get noticed, and as a fan of comedy, Everett would someday love to work for Saturday Night Live in New York.
Everett is living proof that hard work and determination ensures achieving one’s goals and has set her ahead of the rest. Above all, as she prepares for graduation, she remembers how she got where she is today.
“Every day is a learning experience. I make the effort to questions since everyday life is really a classroom; I think it’s important to take in what people give to you,” Everett said.
Hopefully we will be seeing her infamous hair flips on television sometime in the future. Until then, we all hope her long-lasting contributions as an actor and reporter benefit future generations of Lewis attendees.
Photo provided by Courtney Everett
Kevin Meyer
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