Amna Bukhari

While at Simmons College, Amna Bukhari did an internship in our
newsroom for one semester. WBZ-AM is a highly rated news talk radio
station in Boston.

As an intern Amna had a number of responsibilities. She researched
potential news stories, conducted interviews with newsmakers and wrote
news copy for our anchors to read on the air.
Amna's performance was outstanding. Technically, after a brief
training session, Amna used our audio equipment and computer system to
accomplish her assigned tasks. In addition to regular news, she worked
on a feature called, "The Parent Report". It focused on a variety of
parenting issues. Amna produced a 2 minute feature by deciding on a
topic, finding an expert or parent, interviewing the person, editing
excerpts from the interview and writing news copy to explain the topic.

Overall, I found Amna to be one of the most responsible and talented
interns I have worked with in my 20 year career. While successfully
meeting all her deadlines Amna demonstrated self-confidence and
intelligence. She was able to meet difficult deadlines by using her
superior organizational and interpersonal skills.

Respectfully,

Paul J. Connearney Jr.
Assistant News Director
WBZ-AM 1030

Back in 2004, it was with great pleasure we had Amna intern with us at
SDPI (Sustainable Development Policy Institute). As the head of a
research project on Sustainable Development in the NWFP region of
Pakistan, I had trained and observed Amna on a daily basis. I hope my
perspective will be helpful.

Amna had devoted her time as a student and intern towards our project.
Her curiosity, motivation, ambition, and willingness had given her the
ability to assimilate with the work and culture environment. All in
all, she was a very valuable asset to SDPI. As she diligently helped
edit research papers, she was also able to help organize an event,
gathering farmers from the northern region who shared their stories and
struggle to the public, earning her a picture in our national
newspaper, Dawn and a clip on BBC International.

When faced with challenges, such as traveling a total of two hours from
Pindi to Islamabad on a daily basis, Amna managed to make it to work
five days a week using the Pakistani public transportation system.
Where many young women her age would have relied on a "safer" mode of
transportation, Amna wanted to get a feel of Pakistan at work and
outside. As a result, she had a profound effect in our office
environment. She displayed the character of not just an American, but
of a social and culturally aware individual. Because of her
exceptional skill and professionalism, she had not only helped increase
morale, but she had helped build a foundation of confidence and trust
in our group.

Amna has identified herself as an ambitious young woman working to make
a difference. I view her as a go-getter that believes in what she
does, and will always give her 100 percent. With all this said, I
predict that one day she will make a greater impact for the greater
community.

With her genuineness, intelligence, and integrity, she will make the
best out of any experience.

I urge you to carefully consider working with Amna who is, to put it
bluntly, a strong embodiment of brilliance, intelligence, sincerity
and confidence.

Sincerely,

Qasim Shah
Head, PRS Monitoring Cell
Government of Punjab
Lahore, Pakistan