Malia Obama Snags Cool Summer Internship

Malia Obama, 17, is reportedly interning this summer on the set of the HBO hit “Girls.” (Photo: Getty Images/Karwai Tang)

First daughter Malia Obama is a long way from the White House this summer, reportedly interning on the set of the buzzy HBO sitcom, “Girls.”

According to Us Weekly, the incoming high school senior has been spotted on the TV show’s Brooklyn set, getting coffee and helping keep crowds away from filming. “She’s a fan, and she mentioned that to [”Girls” creator] Lena [Dunham] when she came to the White House,” a source told Us Weekly. “I’m not sure how long she’ll be interning for. It’s a bit of a trial thing for her. They’ve known each other and discussed for a while. Lena and her get along great.”

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Malia Obama on the Brooklyn set of HBO’s Girls, where she is reportedly interning this summer

When asked to confirm Malia’s internship, HBO declined to comment.

Malia, who celebrated her 17th birthday on July 4, seems to have her sights set on a career in entertainment, working last summer as a production assistant on the Halle Berry TV drama “Extant.”

Lauren Berger, CEO of InternQueen.com and author of Welcome to the Real World, says that high school students are showing an increasing interest in summer internships, rather than the traditional summer jobs like camp counselor or lifeguard. According to a survey she recently conducted with Dell, when asked when they should start looking for an internship, 27.5 percent of students said senior year of high school. Thirty percent of parents agreed with that timing. “These are kids who were at home when the recession was happening, and heard around the dinner table time and again how competitive the job market can be,” she tells Yahoo Parenting. “By the time they became seniors, they took it seriously.”

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Social media has contributed to the rising interest in high school internships, too, Berger says. “It’s trendy to be ambitious,” she says. “This has not always been the case, but with Instagram it’s cool to take a picture of your to-do list and set goals and be public about them,” she says.

And you don’t have to be related to the president to get a gig, Berger says. “Every internship doesn’t have to be a wow name like ‘Girls,’” she points out. “For a lot of high schoolers who don’t have the opportunity to go to L.A. or New York City, or parents who can’t send their kids to those places, it’s important to note there are opportunities in every city. If I spoke to a student interested in entertainment, I would say that a local TV station or radio station would be a great place to get their hands dirty.”

But since Malia is the first daughter, there’s no shame in her having used her connections. “I would applaud Malia by saying ‘what a way to use your networking skills,’” Berger says. “It’s so important to recognize when there is a networking connection in front of you. Kudos to her for turning a random meeting into an internship opportunity.”

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