(Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of stories about students in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications completing summer internships in 2026.)
UNIVERISTY PARK, Pa. — No matter how her last name sounds, there’s been no luck involved as Lindsay Luczak has built the foundation for her career at Penn State.
Hard work and persistence have been the key — along with a typically packed calendar of classes, responsibilities and work.
Summer break does not offer a break from the hardworking mindset and jam-packed schedule, either.
“I really like being busy,” says Luczak, a rising senior majoring in advertising/public relations, from Mantua, New Jersey. “It just goes by so fast. I’m trying to soak in everything, but it feels like I just got here.”
It’s closer to over than just beginning, though. Luczak is enjoying her final summer as a college student, and so far, that has included a study-abroad trip to Barcelona, and a couple of internships.
She left for Spain about a week after spring semester classes ended in early May and spent nearly three weeks abroad.
“It was something a little outside of my comfort zone, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to do something like it again,” she says. “You just never know how things may happen, so I wanted to give it a try while I knew I could.”
That’s been the theme of her entire Penn State experience — finding opportunity and embracing it.
Luczak, the latest member of a family with strong blue-and-white roots to attend the University, has ongoing, separate internships with the Penn State football program and with Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. They’re similar but different, providing her with a wide view of the sports industry she hopes to enter in less than a year.
She’s also the incoming vice president of the on-campus chapter of the Association for Women in Sports Media and has worked at CommRadio, the student-run streaming station at the University. She has competed shorter-term experiences with the Big Ten Network, the NCAA Hokey Frozen Four, the Philadelphia Flyers, Rutgers University and Snapchat. She also works for Penn State Campus Recreation, assisting with marketing efforts aimed at students who use fitness facilities.
Luczak worked at the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh in April and this summer has internships with New York City-based Athletes First, which runs throughout June and July, and with Ballou Sports Entertainment, a remote position that continues throughout the summer.
“The draft was a great experience. It was a little bit of everything, which made it valuable,” Luczak said. “The draft stage, red carpet and fan experience were all separate and I was able to make connections and meet a lot of people.”
She worked in Pittsburgh that Thursday-Friday in late April as part of the NFL Teammate Program and then returned to campus for her duties related to Blue-White Weekend.
“I drove straight back because I had things to do,” she said.
With Athletes First, she said she’ll rotate through the company’s various departments during the two-month period, gaining even more experience and perspective about what could be ahead for her career.
She’s excited about that and about making the most of what remains of her time as an undergraduate student. Although she had many strong family connections to Penn State, she said, she did explore her other college options. Still, she chose to attend the University herself. She also benefitted from advice and insights provided by then-student Kathryn Tague (who earned her degree in 2024 and now works for StubHub as a social media community manager).
“Kathryn was so helpful, because I pretty much just reached out to her out of the blue,” Luczak said. “I really did look at a bunch of other colleges and their communications programs, but nothing stood out like Penn State did. Plus, everywhere I toured it was just clear to me it wasn’t Penn State.
“I’m proud of what I’ve been able to do, and there’s so much more to be done.”