36-year-old Intern
The definition of an internship is "a student or trainee who works in an organization, sometimes without pay, to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification." If someone had told me fifteen years ago, that I would be an intern at 36 years old - I would say my life had taken a turn for the worse.
In 2002, I was a first-time intern at a local television news affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut. It was a dream com true to work at the same news station I had grown up watching. That internship blossomed into my first professional job as an associate producer and launched my career in broadcast journalism; a career I thought I'd have for the rest of my life. However, things change.
Now I find myself starting my fourth semester in an MFA program for Creative Non-Fiction, and yes, I'm once again an intern. This is an excerpt of the email that I received about a month ago from the Editor in Chief.
Thwacks so much for applying to the Editorial Intern program at Cleaver (Magazine). We would love to invite you to be an intern in Spring 2017!
Please send us a contributor's photo and a 50-100 word bio for our masthead. You can check the masthead for samples of other bios. We are very excited to have you on board! Chop! Chop!
As an editorial intern, I will be reading the non-fiction essays submitted to the magazine. Already, I've received 11 submissions and technically the semester hasn't even begun! I'm expected to read submissions that I think fit the style of the magazine and provide feedback to the writer. It's a lot of pressure when you consider that I've only been subjectively reading other people's work for less than two years. Some of the cover letters of these writers intimidate me to no end! I have never published any of my work, anywhere. So, when I read submissions from writers who have published books, had their work featured in several important journals and magazines, I think "who am I to judge?" I certainly wouldn't want some hack intern pouring over my words and picking apart my craft if I had spent months or possibly years writing a piece.
And therein lies my problem, I always worry about what other people are thinking of me. While I'm concerned that a "thumbs down" vote in Submittable is going to garner me hate mail and scorn from an author for years to come - they have probably moved on and submitted their work to a half dozen other magazines. I need to reign in my fear and realize that being an intern provides me the space to make mistakes, to learn and to grow. (However, is it possible to get fired from an internship?)
I'm looking forward to reading the work of other, more accomplished, writers. I hope that over the next few months, I will learn to pick pieces that will express the artistic view and genre of Cleaver Magazine. In the meantime, check out my cool new masthead - notoriety that I never experienced as an intern at the television station.
In 2002, I was a first-time intern at a local television news affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut. It was a dream com true to work at the same news station I had grown up watching. That internship blossomed into my first professional job as an associate producer and launched my career in broadcast journalism; a career I thought I'd have for the rest of my life. However, things change.
Now I find myself starting my fourth semester in an MFA program for Creative Non-Fiction, and yes, I'm once again an intern. This is an excerpt of the email that I received about a month ago from the Editor in Chief.
Thwacks so much for applying to the Editorial Intern program at Cleaver (Magazine). We would love to invite you to be an intern in Spring 2017!
Please send us a contributor's photo and a 50-100 word bio for our masthead. You can check the masthead for samples of other bios. We are very excited to have you on board! Chop! Chop!
As an editorial intern, I will be reading the non-fiction essays submitted to the magazine. Already, I've received 11 submissions and technically the semester hasn't even begun! I'm expected to read submissions that I think fit the style of the magazine and provide feedback to the writer. It's a lot of pressure when you consider that I've only been subjectively reading other people's work for less than two years. Some of the cover letters of these writers intimidate me to no end! I have never published any of my work, anywhere. So, when I read submissions from writers who have published books, had their work featured in several important journals and magazines, I think "who am I to judge?" I certainly wouldn't want some hack intern pouring over my words and picking apart my craft if I had spent months or possibly years writing a piece.
And therein lies my problem, I always worry about what other people are thinking of me. While I'm concerned that a "thumbs down" vote in Submittable is going to garner me hate mail and scorn from an author for years to come - they have probably moved on and submitted their work to a half dozen other magazines. I need to reign in my fear and realize that being an intern provides me the space to make mistakes, to learn and to grow. (However, is it possible to get fired from an internship?)
I'm looking forward to reading the work of other, more accomplished, writers. I hope that over the next few months, I will learn to pick pieces that will express the artistic view and genre of Cleaver Magazine. In the meantime, check out my cool new masthead - notoriety that I never experienced as an intern at the television station.
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