Montclair Magazine Back to School 2020 | Page 14

entertainment “DISCOVER WHAT YOU LOVE. BE NICETOEVERYONE BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHO’S GOING TO BE YOUR BOSS.IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT TO PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD AND SHOW THAT YOU ARE MOTIVATED AND HUNGRY.” —DARYN CARP KEEPING IT REAL Carp on the set of PeopleTV’s Reality Check with the cast of Jersey Shore. (From left) Vinny Guadagnino, Michael Sorrentino, Carp, Deena Nicole Cortese, Jennifer Farley and Nicole Polizzi. Carp researched the program during her freshman year in college and was accepted into it during the first semester of her senior year. “It was the only job Iapplied to, but once Igot it, Ithought Ihad made it,” she says. Carp graduated from Lafayette in May of 2010 and started the program the following month. It was a bit open-ended, she says; pages could leave at any time if another job came up. She recalls learning unexpected lessons. “When Iwas an NBC page, I took the assignments that no one wanted because they weren’t celebrity-driven,” she says. “I never thought you learned a lot from getting coffee for celebrities.” She also learned that shaking someone’s hand firmly and looking them in the eye goes along, long way, especially in entertainment. “If you show that you are hungry and motivated and willing to wake up at 4a.m., that is going to separate you from so many other people.” After about eight and a half months, Carp’s boss sat her down and told her there was a job opportunity to be the development production coordinator for the head of production and development at Bravo — a guy named Andrew Cohen. Her boss thought this would be a great job for her and that their personalities would really mesh. “I turned it down,” she says. “I looked down at being an assistant at the time. I thought I would become a local reporter in Idaho or New Jersey and work my way up to becoming an on-air reporter.” But with no other job prospects, 12 BACK TOSCHOOL 2020 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE