internship conclusion

As I wind down my last few weeks as an intern at The New Yorker I'm going back over all that I've learned through my experiences there. Since I'm receiving school credit for my work I had to write a paper summarizing the semester, and below is an edited version of it. I had to take out some parts (perhaps the most interesting parts!) because they don't like you to divulge "trade secrets" and certain information as an intern, so this is a rather vague account of my wonderful time. I am SO thankful I had this opportunity.

Experiences as an Intern at The New Yorker

When I first saw the advertisement saying that one of the country’s greatest magazines, The New Yorker, was looking for interns, I jumped at the chance to be a part of such an institution. Six months later as I finish my internship in the Cartoon Department of the magazine I can say that it has been a wonderful experience that I’ve been lucky enough to take part in. What started as menial administrative tasks like any other internship turned into much more.

When I first went in to interview for the position I knew this wouldn’t be like any of the other 3 magazines I had interned at. For starters, the Conde Nast building has such a hustle and bustle of important publishing professionals that just walking in the elevator seems to put you into another element. I met with my soon to be boss and he asked me to take a quick quiz – almost like a “funny test.” I left feeling unconvinced but was happy to get an email a week later offering me the internship.

The first few weeks were mostly basic “intern” type tasks. Opening mail was a big one, since the department receives several hundred submissions from amateur cartoonists hoping to have their artwork printed in the magazine. My job was to go through these many envelopes and be the first set of eyes judging if they were worthy of the editors’ consideration. Those that weren’t had to be sent back in the included envelopes with a small rejection slip thanking the person for their submission and apologizing for not being able to use it.

I enjoyed reading through the slush pile and picking out ones I liked, but it was hard to keep sending rejections to the same people who submitted week after week! I actually had great responsibility in selecting what was good from what was not. Finding autonomy and purpose within simple duties is the key to being a good intern and enjoying the process, in my opinion.

Aside from sorting submissions, filing original art, and sorting through endless piles of photocopied cartoons, another major responsibility of the internship was checking new cartoons against the magazine's library of all previously published cartoons. It’s a really interesting process.

Luckily the internship experience didn’t stick just to these kinds of duties. One of the highlights of my time there was a two day span when my boss was away and asked me to fill in for him. I got to completely step into an editor’s shoes for these days, and it was challenging and exciting. The preparation as an intern was good, but nothing like actually being in the moment.

There was one situation he had forgotten to warn me about, which happened to occur the day that he left. Normally he plays an integral role in the process from cartoon on paper to cartoon on the magazine page, and now it was my chance to take over. Some of the steps involved had never been explained to me, but thankfully other editors were more than willing to help out. The second day I filled in for him was quieter but still gave me insight to other aspects of the cartoon department. Those two days were definitely a turning point. Following that I was able to me more active in other processes.

I was very appreciative for the opportunity to be part of such a wonderful publication for a short period of time, and to have it turn into an experience beyond mailing and phone calls was an added bonus. I really enjoyed my internship at The New Yorker and am sure that it has helped me in my quest for a full-time position in publishing in the future.

behind the cartoons...

Want to know part of what goes on behind the scenes at my internship at The New Yorker?

Check out this Newsweek article I came across recently about the "inside process" of the famous cartoon caption contest.

Fun fun :)
Here's this week's cartoon for the caption contest. Any takers?


(image from NewYorker.com)

interviews...i'll ask the questions

Today I did another phone interview for the same article I was working on yesterday...and I myself was interviewed for an article in my college paper, where I was Features Editor before I graduated.

I have to say, it's nice to be asked to be interviewed and to be quoted in print and all, but I really prefer ASKING questions and listening quietly rather than rambling on uncomfortably, haha. I'm no conversationalist and it's not like I was asked rocket science questions, but I get all tongue tied when put on the spot. You'd think as a writer I'd be able to swiftly come up with beautiful prose to run off when asked questions I know the answers to inside and out - how I graduated so fast, what I've been doing since finishing college, advice for future grads, etc - but somehow I couldn't find the words today. I'm sure when it's printed I'll regret my verbal stupidity, haha. Oh well, what can you do. I guess it wasn't THAT bad.

I spent the rest of the day at The New Yorker. That's all going really well...they're putting together a book with all the cartoon caption contests from the past 3 years and I'm helping a lot with that, so that's exciting. Fun stuff.

I'm so behind on my own work, though. Being sick last week put me in slow motion and now I'm fighting to catch up with articles and papers for school and the like. So much to do and so little time.

back to the movmnt

Tonight I went to a meeting at movmnt magazine to prepare for the next issue. I'm super excited to say I have 3 article assignments this time! Should be fun even though it's lots of work with a pretty quick deadline (few weeks anyway). If you haven't already purchased your copy of the most recent issue (see cover above) YOU SHOULD GO GET IT. Haha.

That was just one highlight of my busy day...I literally was nonstop going all around the city today and finally got home at 10pm - my first breather all day. Rehearsal this morning went well. There was a guest watching from Paris Opera Ballet, who might teach a master class before rehearsal someday next week. That should be interesting.

Right from there I went to the New Yorker again. Pretty much a typical afternoon there...

Then had to stop by school to take care of some little errands (applying for 2 senior awards I was nominated for...hah) before heading downtown to movmnt.

After the meeting I met a friend nearby...the one who shot video footage of me in class last week so that I can put together an audition video. He helped me download all of the video to my ipod so I can look it over and see what else I need (and if I like it or not...). Thankfully, after a week off to free my mind from seeing it, it looked better than I was expecting. I absolutely despise watching myself dance, haha. Or do anything on film, for that matter. But it wasn't QUITE as bad as I had pictured in my mind. We watched a bit of it together, but I have to sit down and go through the whole hour long clip and see. Ugh. I'm glad I'm finally getting this done though.

Anyway, I'm exhausted from a nonstop day. Even though it's only been a 4 day week for me thanks to my travel back from Salt Lake City, I feel like this week was busier than all of last month combined. Crazy. But good!

at least i get to laugh at my job

Thursdays are busy intern day, and today in particular was a bit crazy. As an intern, at a weekly magazine specifically, you never know from day to day whether you'll be insanely busy running around with your hands in a million different tasks, or if it's a slow day and you're stuck practicing your postal system skills for hours. Today was the busiest I've been in my time at The New Yorker, and it was fun!

The big project of the day involved going through the archives of all the cartoon caption contests in the past 3 years. It was SO FUNNY. I sit at the computer trying hard not to literally laugh out loud at some of the things people write - both the intentionally funny, winning captions and those that are so off they are hilarious. I went through quite a few (nearly 300 pages in Word...although I didn't have time to stop and go through everything, obviously...) and found enjoyment in a rather tedious task. I think that's the trick to being an intern...make the most of it, and I certainly have been doing that.



Speaking of that, on my last day of my previous internship back in January, the last intern task was to decorate easter eggs for a cover photo shoot! Haha and tonight I ran across the new issue without looking for it, and saw our pretty eggs right there staring back at me! Too funny...

Have I mentioned how grateful I am to have the opportunity to intern at the places I have? They really have been the best teaching experiences beyond any college (or grad school) course.

Anyways. I'm off to Salt Lake City in the morning! I'm so looking forward to it. I'm bringing my laptop so I'll squeeze in some blogging amongst my reunion fun, haha.

new yorker state of mind

Had a long day at my internship today, so I don't have much to blog about dance-wise. Work is going well though...my boss is going away in a few weeks and I'm going to be in his place for a day or two, so I'm learning more than I normally would so I can take over for that short time. It's good, just a big responsibility.

Other good news is that CN decided to start paying interns a stipend starting in March. Yay, haha. It's like, nothing, but it's something. Just a little extra money for food and travel, but it was nice to find out about that today.

I have a ton of work to catch up with tonight...getting my teacher's e-newsletter to go out March 1, working on the other studio's newsletter layout, finishing my review of Vishneva last weekend (see, behind!), and more.

Will try to blog more interestingly this weekend, haha.

busy day

Today has been a day similar to the many I had last semester where I have a million places to be at the same time and everything seems to be happening at once. Luckily I thrive of this, but it's been a little stressful.

Earlier a friend and I rented a studio to rehearse our variations for this weekend's little performance since our normal teacher/coach has been away the past few days. I'm glad we did it, but it's kind of hard to get stuff done when you don't have someone there yelling at you, haha. My teacher yells a lot...but in a good way :)

After that I had an interview for a paid internship at this one magazine...it sounds like a great opportunity, but it's full time which is a little daunting to me at this point. We'll see what happens.

Tonight I'm rehearsing with ANOTHER friend because we're trying to get it together to make audition videos to send to companies. I haven't made time to do this the past 3 audition seasons, haha, so I definitely have to now. We're working on it...

Then I'm going to see New York City Ballet tonight for the last time this season. I'm excited to see their West Side Story Suite...they sing! Review to come on ExploreDance later this week.

That's all for now...

have a laugh

I realize I haven't posted much about my internship at The New Yorker lately...

Here's a quick link to make you laugh...slideshow of the cartoons in the current issue of the magazine. Since I get to see a lot of these before they are printed it's even funnier to see others enjoying them later.

Have a laugh on a rainy Monday.

Quick & Simple intern rundown

As promised, here's a play by play of my fall/winter internship at Quick & Simple Magazine, a women's weekly published by Hearst. I was in the Home & Crafts department, and in case you missed it: I finished there last week and am now at The New Yorker.

I had to do this little journal to get credit for it at school, so may as well share the whole thing. Apologies for the length and the pretty boring quality of writing...keep in mind, it was for school (COUNTDOWN: 11 days til I graduate.)


Internship Journal: Quick & Simple Magazine

Here are the highlights from my experiences interning in the Home & Crafts Editorial section at Quick & Simple Magazine at Hearst Corporation from October 2007 - January 2008.

-Getting Familiar with the Magazine
My first week at the magazine was pretty slow, but it was a comfortable way to start. My bosses - Lauren, Senior Home Editor, and Laura, Assistant Home Editor - had me doing so administrative tasks mainly so that I could become familiar with the way the work and the magazine itself. I had to send copies of recent issues out to vendors that were featured in the home section, and by doing this I got to learn the public relations people for each company they deal with and I got to spend some time flipping through the pages of issues. I also had to return some products they used in a photo shoot.
They were also in the planning stages of figuring out story ideas for the 2008 issues, so they asked me to make a calendar for them of all the popular and more off beat holidays and their dates in the new year. I was surprised at how far in advance they plan for the holidays, even though it’s a weekly magazine.

-Researching for Features
A big part of my responsibility was to conduct online research for various story ideas that they were working on about home and crafts. One of the first they asked me to look up was ideas for recycling old Christmas supplies. They were aware of the common ideas for this, but they wanted something more creative. I spent quite a bit of time Googling different holiday words and trying to come up with unconventional ideas that they might use for the story. Editors are very creative thinkers and it was difficult to find unique ideas, but they ended up using some of the stuff I found!
Another way I had to research was by going through older home and craft books looking for images they could use in a story. Because the magazine is owned by Hearst Corporation, any images used in another Hearst book or magazine can be used free by our title. This makes for cost-efficient stories that look just as good as original ideas, and because it’s a relatively new magazine, money is key. I got to go through books and pick out images that went off a similar theme and then the editors chose what would actually be used from my suggestions.
Other features I researched for included new storage products, and product roundups of red and yellow accessories. This required contacting various companies to see what new items they had, skimming through various websites in search of cheap, interesting products that would photograph well, and going through old magazines (both Quick & Simple and competitors) to get ideas. This was all very much idea-based, and with the exception of a few product print outs, there was often nothing tangible for me to turn in to my bosses as a result of my time working. However, my ideas seemed to please them.

-Administrative Work
The job title “intern” automatically comes with the connotation of filing, faxing, and photocopying. Luckily, most of this internship did not consist of days like that, though there were a few. I had to fill in for the receptionist who was out sick one day, and while this took me away from my usual setting I did get to learn from it. I got to meet more people who work at the magazine coming in and out through reception, and I became more familiar with the magazine at large when calls came in.
Other administrative tasks I had to do included sorting and filing piles of press kits from home and craft companies, and updating an Excel document with publicity contact information.

-Photo Shoots
As unimpressive as the administrative work was, it was worth it to put up with that so that I could attend photo shoots. The magazine has an in-house photography studio right on the floor, with a huge prop closet next door, rows of colored papers for backdrops, and stacks of camera equipment. My first time in there I was amazed at how different it looked from any of the pictures I had seen in the magazine. With all the variations they can do in setting up, they can make that space look like any kind of room.
The first shoot I sat it on was for a story about being clean versus messy, and they had two models come in to represent the different sides. I was surprised that they came in separately even though the final image looks as if they are posing simultaneously. More unnerving, though, was the number of shots it took before deciding on the perfect one. Each model took at least an hour trying different positions and different props while the editors, the photographer, and the photo editor stood by watching carefully. The goal was to get the perfect image to fit the page, but there were so many elements that could go wrong. Just from listening to all their comments in attempt to frame the best image I learned all it takes behind the scenes to get the single image a reader sees on the page.
A similar process took place in shoots without models. They shot a story called “Luxe for Less” a few others that only consisted of products. I figured it would be easier to work with inanimate objects rather than people, but it was just as much of a challenge. So many things, from colors to sizes to leaving space for text on the page, matter in terms of magazine photography. On the days we did these shoots I learned a lot from the photo editor even though that wasn’t really my goal. Though I’m interested in the writing part of a magazine page, the art part is equally as essential and it’s important for both elements to work together.
At the end of my internship we were working on an Easter story to be featured on the cover of an issue, and I got to observe an art meeting with the Editor in Chief, the creative director, and several other people from the non-editorial side. To be a fly on the wall for this was very interesting. People all had different opinions and ideas for the cover art and a big issue was authenticity of the image.

-Press Events
A big benefit of this internship was the opportunity to attend press events for the home and crafts markets. The first one I was invited to was for Target’s spring home collection. Neither of my bosses were able to attend, so they asked me to go and RSVP’ed for me as their “Home Assistant.”
The event was held in a showroom in midtown, and there were a number of publicists and magazine editors in attendance. I tried my best to act professional even though I was significantly younger than everyone there! I took notes on the various products that were set up in sample rooms and got press materials from the representatives to give back to my bosses. They also gave us swag - free samples - which my bosses let me keep.
After the excitement of that, I got to attend another event hosted by WalMart. This time one of my bosses, Laura, came with me, and I was more prepared having been to the Target one previously. This one was also set up in a showroom, but the publicists took all the editors (and me) all around as a big group to better explain the products in case anyone wanted to use them in their magazine. It was interesting to see the different marketing tactics between Target and WalMart and to see which my boss and other editors preferred.
The last event I got to attend was the most fun because it was a preview of a big craft fair, with “take and make” tables, where editors can try a craft and take it home. Both of my bosses, as well as an editorial assistant, attended, and we got to try a bunch of different crafts not only for our own enjoyment but to see if they were “quick and simple” enough to be featured in our magazine. Because this one was more for crafters and craft editors, more targeted market people were there. My boss knew many attendees and vendors and introduced me to them. It was great to see the up and coming ideas that will be in the pages of the magazine.

-Writing
One of my main goals for this or any internship was to get a published writing clip to add to my portfolio. The magazine doesn’t actually give bylines, and the home section doesn’t often run long-form articles. However they did allow me to write brief product description blurbs that went along with a few stories. Not only did this allow me to get writing and get creative, but I was challenged to be concise and accurate. The ones I worked on are just now coming out in recent issues and it’s exciting to see my words in print.

it's done - quick and simple

Today was my last day interning at Quick & Simple Magazine!

I'll write a detailed post about my full time there soon, but just thought I should update for the occasion. It was such a great, fun experience! My bosses were great, my office was great, my days there were great...I think, to this point, this has been my favorite internship...it's a toss up between this and Pointe.

Anyways...I can't stress enough the benefits of doing an internship (or multiple) in whatever field you're going in to - publishing in particular. I'm really thankful for all the opportunities I've had to work with some fabulous people and be a fly on the wall for some really interesting things. You don't learn everything in school, let me tell you...

I'm defintely going to miss it there, but I'm so ready to start at The New Yorker on Thursday! Not wasting any time in between.

Other updates...

I have some more review assignments for Explore Dance and will be going to a bunch of performances in the next few weeks...the first of which is tomorrow night. Nothing to do with Explore Dance. Cedar Lake Ensemble is giving a preview performance of their season for dance bloggers, along with a meet and greet type reception thing. Definitely looking forward to meeting some other bloggers that I read all the time, and seeing the show too.

I've done a big chunk of work for the BAE newsletter, including my letter from the editor. It was kind of tough to write when perhaps it shouldn't have been. I'll post it on here soon, just for kicks.

Rebecca Kelly ballet thing starts this weekend too. I'm just understudying, but to learn from a video to prepare is difficult!

Another website I used to write for called me out of the blue yesterday to start writing again, so that's another addition to the neverending to-do list.

I guess that's it for now.

Oh, and THANKS to Q&S!

last 'first' day of class

Well, tonight was my last 'first day of class' in college. I'm taking one course just in January to finish up my credits. It's coming so fast...

Also had my second to last internship day at Q&S Magazine. It was great as usual. We had yet another product photo shoot, so we were in the studio all day. It's so interesting just to be a fly on the wall there. I'm going to miss it and the people I work with there too, but I'm looking forward to starting at The New Yorker next week!

Ugh, but on top of getting back in the swing of things I have a cold - again. It's just at the starting point, but I'm hoping it will come and go quickly because next week (and weekEND) is really busy...

the new yorker!!! & more...

Okay, the secret is out...my internship plans have changed as of an hour ago.

Before I accepted my spring internship at Forbes Magazine's website I had also interviewed at the mother of all magazines, Conde Nast's NEW YORKER. And I found out today that they offered me the internship. At The New Yorker. The epitome of the magazine world. AHH!

So therefore I must accept it and will be doing THAT in the spring instead of Forbes. I am so thankful for all these wonderful opportunities and am overwhelmed with options...I've never been in this kind of situation before and it's crazy!

On top of that, I don't think I mentioned that last week the contemporary company I auditioned for about a month ago emailed me asking to be a guest at their workshop thing in January and also come understudy a performance the week before at City Center! So that will be a great learning opportunity to!

So much is happening so fast. This insane semester is over in 9 days and I have so much to do until then (on top of Nutcrack week 2)...but I am not complaining! :)

i love my job

I had the best day at work (internship) today!

What started off boring, me entering business card addresses into the magazine's contact list, turned out to be such a fun day! After lunch I was invited to a press event with my bosses for this big craft show that's coming up in January (I'm in the home and crafts department) and they had a preview of the different vendors and stuff in this loft space.

It was sooo fun. What they do for that kind of thing is demonstrate their craft products by doing "make and takes," where you actually DO the craft right there at their table. It was like those old school craft fairs like with sand art (there was no sand art here, but that's what it reminded me of) but it was all free! I made a t-shirt with iron on things, a little birthday box filled with candy (who's bday is coming up?), a yarn pom pom, and these great wall decorations. And since we went towards the end of the day all the vendors were packing up as we ate our free brownies and they didn't want to carry all their products home on planes so they gave us all kinds of extra samples! Swag is the reason to go into magazines, if nothing else. Hahaha.

Heading back to the office with 4 of us carrying 3 bags of crafts each was quite amusing. It was lots of fun and I got some cute things to do once the semester is over and I can (briefly before January term starts) have a life again.

One more day til I head out to Hartford for Nutcracker! Lots of packing and papers to write before I go...

intern bosses on video

The magazine I intern at is doing a Christmas season special on their website where all the editors were filmed while giving a different holiday tip for readers. Thought I'd share my two bosses making their website video debut :) They're so great...the day they filmed in the studio it was such a big deal, haha. I kind of love the magazine world.

Forbes

I can officially announce that my spring internship next semester will be at Forbes Magazine. It's an editorial internship with their website, and though I'm not the best with business, it's a great opportunity that I signed on to this afternoon.

I did have another internship interview with a big name magazine today, but I won't hear from them for quite a while and it seemed best to go with the one that was offered right away. It's a good name and a good environment. And there's a few other things in the works for next semester so we'll see how it goes...

PS- the cold that was coming on has definitely hit me hard tonight. Not fun :(

back in the city

Every time I get my first glimpse of New York City's skyline when returning from a trip, either to rehearsal in CT or home to Boston, I get the same excitement and chill I first got when I moved to the city.

Except tonight, the chill was from a cold coming on :(

Yes, it's that time of year, and I'm getting a cold from being rundown. Can't imagine why. But I'm trying hard to fight it so I can make it through the rest of the semester alive.

Besides a sore throat and headache, my Thanksgiving break was nice. Visiting friends and family was good, and having some time away from my cramped apartment full of work was refreshing. I also got time for my body to rest before the final push of Nutcracker month.

[pretending to eat all the pie on Thanksgiving. yum]

[one of my dogs, Lucy, who is so cutely posing with the huge xmas tree we just put up]

[we -- well, my mom -- always decorate for christmas soon after thanksgiving for parties and such, and because the house is crazy we go ALL OUT. This would be just part of the massive Nutcracker collection that lines the entire counter]

Went back to rehearsal today...only one more Sunday left til we're onstage! I really can't wait. Mohegan Sun seats 10,000 people! That's almost more than all the theaters I've ever danced in put together -- and I've been in some big places.

Besides that I have some other things to look forward to. The big internship I interviewed for last week left me a message before break offering me the position for the spring. I have my big article due this week. I'm finishing up my last issue (before I graduate) of our school paper The Monitor. I'm being interviewed for this new dance website balletconnections.com and may possibly get another writing gig from that.

As always, a ton of stuff is going on. I thrive on opportunity, but let's hope this cold doesn't keep me down.

the energizer bunny

I feel like the Energizer Bunny this week...I just keep going and going and going, haha.

I had work all day today. Whenever I say work, I mean my internship. And it only feels like "work" because it's in an office. It's really quite enjoyable. Today I got to go to another press event, this time for Walmart, and my boss came with me. Like Target the other day, they had some nice things they showed us that are set to be in stores in the spring. Got some nice swag (aka free stuff) out of the deal :) and got to talk more to my boss (she's too nice to be a "boss") about jobs and such.

School tonight was the usual. I'm starting to realize how little time there is left in the semester. I only have 3 more Thursday nights of classes thanks to Thanksgiving next week. This semester has flown by! Probably because I've done ten thousand things in the span of 3 months.

I've gotten some more comments on my thesis post over at The Winger if you want to check 'em out. It's so nice to hear from people! More people should comment on THIS blog too, since lately I've been getting some new readers...

Another super busy day tomorrow like yesterday. I finally have a chance to take class since I've barely had time to do so all week. After morning class I'm interviewing my teacher (she's amazing) for an ExploreDance article. Then I have an internship interview (the first interview in a while where I'm not the one asking the questions, haha). Then another interview for my other article (4th of 5). Then taking class the rest of the evening as I usually do on Friday nights. It's funny how right now class is like my reward for getting everything else done, whereas many times it feels like something I just have to do or have to get over with. Maybe that makes me appreciate it more.

SO busy!

This day, and week, has been insane!

This morning I did another interview for movmnt. Mystery person #2 was also really nice and gave me GREAT anecdotes to use in the article.

Then I just got out of a lonnnng audition for Rebecca Kelly Ballet, this contemporary company downtown. It was a really nice audition -- I liked the choreography a lot, and it wasn't too crowded. She has another audition in December before she makes any decisions or whatever, so I won't hear back for a while. It felt more like a good class than an audition, so...think positive.

Now I'm fumbling around trying to respond to many many messages I got while in the audition...I got last minute press tickets to review Complexions tonight, so I'm arranging for that to happen. I've been playing phone tag with another movmnt interviewee and I'm try to get that squared away. I got a call from a very important internship asking for references and an interview, so I'm in the process of that as well. Crazy! You know I'm busy when I can even find time to take class! I guess the audition counted though.

Anyway, I better get to work on organizing my life and stop rambling on here, haha. Report on Complexions coming later tonight :)

more intern fun

Today was another fun day at work (internship).

I got to go to a press event for a new design collection for Target. Fun! They have some cute stuff coming out in January.

The rest of the day we had another photo shoot. I like the days when we shoot because I'm not at a desk all day (as much as I enjoy my cubicle...and I'm not being sarcastic!). It's more interactive and fun. Everyone at the magazine is so nice. Today was exciting because the photo editor made cupcakes and brought them in, haha. Oh the things that brighten a day...

More interviews coming up this week. For this website I'm going to write for I get to interview my ballet teacher! Pretty excited about that one...haha I'm a dork beyond words.

This week is going by really fast and I have sooo much work to do. I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! I'm going home to the family, which will be a nice (short!) break. So much to do before then though...just trying to keep everything in control.

internship photo fun

While at work today I realized I haven't posted much about my internship at all since I started a month ago! So I felt an update was in order...

Today was a really fun day at the magazine. We had a photo shoot alllll day long, and it was so cool! They have shoots all the time in the studio right there in the office, but this was the first I was able to attend and help with. What an experience! I've been on other shoots for other magazines and things but this one was particularly neat because things are different when it's done in-house.

It was an all day affair and rather exhausting even though my job was basically to be a fly on the wall. I had to steam some shirts that the models wore (one of the few menial intern-type tasks I deal with) but besides that I sat back and just observed - how they make the set, how they decide on color schemes, how important props are, how they decide on the perfect pose, how they choose the final picture from the (literally) thousands of shots they take. Thank goodness for digital photography!

Anyway it was a really interesting day and it's times like these when I realize how lucky I am to be involved! My bosses are so great, and the photographer and photo editor and makeup artist and everyone were so fun to be around all day. Our one editor and I were talking and she asked how I liked working in magazines, and I said "I love it!" After dance (or instead of, if need be...argh) this is definitely the industry for me. She was like, "They don't teach this stuff in school. It's a whole other animal..." and she's completely right. That's what internships are for.