Excited, overwhelmed, surprised, and eager are all words that could describe my feelings at the start of my internship. When I received my first assignment, I was surprised at the amount of work that really went into “one” assignment. I soon realized that one assignment really equaled a few assignments sorted into one category.My first assignment was pertaining to education. I got the opportunity to create a quiz, write two profiles, gather pictures, and write an article on the status of financial aid for students in the given economy.
It was very different conducting my interviews over the phone verses in person. At my college publication doing interviews in person was required, and over the phone or via email was frowned upon. It was a lot easier to contact people over phone and email verses having to set up times to meet with them, especially with conflicting schedules. This was one aspect of the internship that felt like a breath of fresh air.
All through my college education I wrote for a newspaper. Interning and writing for a magazine is much different than I had expected. I am trying to quickly learn the style of Indianapolis Women’s Magazine, as well as how to write for a magazine publication in general.
I am quickly learning that getting things done early is important, and that modeling my study habits from college will not work for my internship. Something positive I feel I will take from my experience at the magazine is learning effective time management. Balancing my studies, part-time job, dance practice, social life, and family will be one of my biggest challenges.
When my friends asked how my internship was going, it was easy to tell I was overwhelmed and discouraged. I realized I have a lot to learn, but I am excited because I know it will make me a better writer, which intern makes me feel eager. I am very grateful for such a great opportunity that will greatly develop my writing skills.
It was hard for me to get back into the swing of things, especially still being on break, but I am excited to see what the future will bring. With graduation around the corner, my experiences at the magazine will better my chances of finding a good job quickly after I obtain my degree.
Whenever I become discouraged I like to reflect back to one of my favorite quotes my roommate introduced me to early in my college career, “No one said it would be easy, they just said it would be worth it,” and I find the strength to persevere.
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by Crystal Abrell
