Sometimes it pays to get good grades.
That is why senior Byron Oldham will be spending his last semester at UF with his nose in his advertising textbooks.
Oldham was the winner of the Best Overall Intern award at the Zimmerman Advertising Agency in Ft. Lauderdale this summer.
As his reward, the agency will pay for the cost of each class in which he earns an "A" grade during the fall semester. If he earns straight A's, the agency will cover his entire tuition and offer him a job after he graduates in December.
This is known as the "Paying for A's" program, and this summer was the first time the agency offered it.
"All those [interns] worked their butts off and are capable of getting a job anywhere, but one rose above," said Michael Goldberg, the executive vice president and chief marketing officer at the Zimmerman Advertising Agency. "We wanted to find that one person who grows in an industry in which few do and to give students a taste of the real world."
Oldham said the internship was a very competitive one.
"It's very true there's only one winner, especially in a program like advertising, because when you pitch a campaign you either get the business or you don't," Oldham said.
Goldberg said it was Oldham's poise and ability to lead and inspire that separated him from the rest of the pack.
"He was the one who was really the heart and soul of the team," Goldberg said.
The interns' final project was to think of a new campaign for Party City, designed to boost sales through the store's website. They presented their ideas to the president of the Party City franchise and other company executives.
"The fact that we were able to give this presentation to real [executives] was the coolest part for me," Oldham said.
Goldberg said the interns were unaware they were competing for the top spot in the program this summer.
"We did not tell interns the ‘Paying for A's' program was going on because I wanted to make sure I wasn't fabricating inspiration," Goldberg said. "I wanted to have the winner win because that's innately who they are."
