All in the family More than a decade apart, siblings embrace semester-long programs in D.C. and Hollywood
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ew recommendations mean more than those that come from family members so when Elan Fingles got a text from his older sister he paid attention — even if it was about something that was years in the future. “It was my freshman fall, and she had seen that we were starting the Penn State Hollywood Program. She texted me and told me to find out more about it and get involved,” Fingles said. “She said if Dr. (Robert) Richards was running it, it was going to be great.” Rachel Fingles (’07 Ad/PR, Lib) completed the Stanley E. Degler Washington Program when she was a Penn State undergraduate. She said the on-site internship program in the nation’s capital was transformative. “It was my favorite semester at Penn State. It totally changed my life,” she said. “I wasn’t really into politics until I went there and by the time I left I was so fully immersed that it felt different to come back to campus where those kinds of things were not necessarily on the tips of everyone’s tongues.” She had always planned to pursue a law degree after graduating from Penn State and the Washington Program confirmed that choice. When she found out about the Hollywood Program, she insisted her brother explore the possibilities. “I told him it was going to change his life,” she said. “I am where I am today because a program I experienced changed my life. I can say that with 100 percent certainty.” Richards, the John and Ann Curley Professor of First Amendment Studies, created both programs, with the Washington Program’s success providing a model for what was created in Hollywood. Both experiences put students on site for internships and courses for a full semester. Elan Fingles was initially rejected from the Hollywood Program, though.
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“The first time I applied my credentials really weren’t that strong,” he said. “I studied abroad, improved my grades a little and applied again, figuring it was worth one more shot.” He was accepted and this past spring completed two internships — one with Grandview Entertainment, a talent and literary management company, and one with Wayans Alvarez Productions. Like his sister, the experience had a big impact. “Before this, my plan was to go to New York City with the whole Don Draper ‘Mad Men’ mentality — do something creative,” he said. Now, with just a few months remaining in is Penn State career before he graduates in December, he’s ready to return to California. “My plan is to work for an agency in Los Angeles for a year or so and then work to become a literary agent. I had no idea what to expect in the Hollywood Program, and no idea what it meant to live on the West Coast. Now it’s hard to imagine doing anything else.” It was a good semester for him, and it’s been a good past few months for his sister as well. Rachel Fingles practices family law in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Last year she was elected to the local school board. Then, in late January 2018, she was one of 47 female elected officials from across the nation featured in a Time magazine article about women in politics. (That’s her on the cover of the magazine, just above the letters “ER” in Avengers.) She ran for the school board because of cuts to personnel and programming. “I
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watched as the previous board made some devastating decisions regarding the budget,” she said. “I had thought of running before that, but that was the main thing.” Since then, the position has provided challenges and satisfaction. It’s also prompted some introspection. “Sitting in that seat has forced me to think of the community as a whole rather than what it is I want or what I want for my children,” she said. “I see many different points of view, and I have to take them all into consideration when making a decision. It’s given me an appreciation of different perspectives. Even even if I disagree with someone, I owe it to them to listen.” l