Learning by doing is more valuable than learning through textbooks.
When I graduated this past May, I didn’t receive a job offer instead I received an internship. I was disappointed because I didn’t get my dream job but I accepted the internship anyways. And I didn’t know it at the time but this internship was a blessing in disguise.
This past summer I was an student intern with Newsy. Newsy is national news network with multiple offices in Columbia, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, Denver, and Washington, D.C.
My communication school flew us out for a week to Columbia, Missouri to get first hand experience in a newsroom. Columbia, is home to the University of Missouri (Mizzou). If you never been here it’s a college town, which if you don’t know means it’s a really small town. A majority of it’s residents were raised here and most likely graduated from Mizzou.
Born and raised in a city, I’ve never been to a college town and I didn’t know what I got myself into until we landed at the airport. We didn’t even have an actual terminal, it was a one road that airplanes landed on and took off from. We actually walked off the stairs of the airplane.
Everything in this city is walking distance. Downtown Columbia from the campus, literally 5 minutes. So walking from the dorm to Newsy’s office wasn’t too far away.
At Newy’s office/newsroom we got first hand experience by amazing journalists that mentored us throughout the week. Here I learned how to edit with Final Cut Pro and the ins & outs of a newsroom.
When we flew back to Houston, we had projects throughout the summer. Pitching, editing videos, and creating news videos.
The internship ended with a mock interview with journalists from Newsy. That was my favorite part, getting real advice from people who were in my position and now have successful careers.
I can’t believe I almost missed out on this amazing opportunity but it shows you that when a door closes another opens.
Always remember that sometimes you don’t get what you want, because it wasn’t meant to be. And that’s okay because something else will be.
Love Always,
Lidia
