Lakeville Grad is 'Winning' Despite Being Passed Over For Charlie Sheen Internship

By being one of 50 finalists to become Charlie Sheen’s social media intern, Lakeville South grad Shannah Henderson proved at least two things: she might have Tiger Blood after all, and she's definitely "duh, winning."

But on April 11, via Facebook no less, Henderson announced to the world that she was no longer in the running for the "#Tigerblood" internship.

"I def had a great time with all the Sheenanigans, and I am so ready for all the other exciting opportunities that have popped up," she wrote.

Henderson became a media darling last month when she and roughly 49 other applicants were selected from a pool of more than 82,000 who wanted to help run Sheen's social media operation.

And while Sheen, who has garnered a lot of attention for his lifestyle in recent months is vilified by some, he's admired by others, including Henderson.

“I absolutely love Charlie Sheen. I actually think he’s inspiring,” Henderson told Patch last month. “He’s just himself and he doesn’t change for anyone. That’s very admirable.”

For Henderson, who is a public relations student at the University of Minnesota, the opportunity was also very serious.

“This wasn’t ever really a joke for me,” she said

Henderson maintained a Youtube and Twitter blitz aimed at keeping her name at the top for Sheen's handlers, and her success doing that led to a score of news stories in newspapers and on television news broadcasts all over the Twin Cities.

While Henderson isn't going to be joining Sheen on his Fastball tour, or helping the "Warlock" with his social media projects, the self described Sheeniac will be doing an internship this summer.

She said the experience and fanfare that surrounded her Sheen internship pursuit has led to other opportunities, including two "awesome (public relations) internship interviews."

She originally stumbled across the internship on the web a few weeks ago while vacationing in Wyoming during spring break. Already having interned for Verizon, Henderson said she wanted another internship.

But applying for Sheen’s internship isn’t like the others Henderson has had. This application required she jump on Twitter and craft a 75-character tweet about why she should be hired.

Henderson’s tweet was good enough to get to the next round where Henderson needed to submit an actual application. Her resume, including links to her Facebook page and other social media pages, pushed her to the next round. 

Henderson, who is adept enough at social media that she’s taught Facebook seminars for folks trying to learn about the site, said she was interested in the internship, mostly, because social media is so important today.

“The world has changed and it’s all digital now. Just the fact that Sheen has figured that out, I feel like he’s so smart for doing that,” Henderson said. “Social media is everything now. It’s a way to connect with people and if you’re not on social media sites, you’re not really with it. Companies take it seriously and it’s essential now days.”

That said, Hendersonisn't bashful about saying she thinks Sheen is an interesting guy and she's not at all bothered by what people seem to think about him or her pursuit of an internship with him.

“I would love to spend time with him. (He) seems to be fun,” she said. “I feel like I’ve really had tiger blood the past few weeks. I always think I’m winning now.”