in·tern1 [n. in-turn]
A person who works as an apprentice or trainee in an occupation or profession to gain practical experience. (Dictionary.reference.com)
The above denotation well sums up my experience as an editorial intern at The Jewish Link for the past few weeks—a combination of a real work schedule, teamwork, learning opportunities and an expansion of my comfort zone all rolled up into one fascinating, jam-packed internship.
Through all of my English and writing classes over the past few years, I have had much experience with formal, analytical and expository writing, particularly through the two AP English courses, Literature & Composition and Language & Composition, that I completed in my last two years of high school. However, I had yet to have much exposure to the writing styles of journalism, interviewing or current events, and that was what I had in mind when I applied for a JLNJ internship earlier this year. I got all that and more.
When beginning the internship, I realized that it is quite satisfying to have a set schedule and daily routine—a taste of the “real” work world—while doing something that I enjoy, namely, writing and editing for, learning about and contributing to a newspaper and cause on a daily basis. I realized as well that as gratifying as it may feel to complete an interview, feature article or cover story by yourself, there is much to be said about the greatness of a collaborative effort. While a few articles I have worked on were joint projects, the newspaper as a whole is the greatest collaboration of efforts, talents and hard work, all of which are evident in the final product.
As an intern, I was assigned to write and edit many different types of articles, some close to my heart and others as seemingly random as can be, and I was expected to complete both with the same quality of writing. I came to recognize that the only way to develop a new skill is to try multiple times until you get it right, gradually becoming better and better, but not without the natural, inevitable errors along the way (a personal example: copyediting is not the same as tearing apart a rough draft!). Pushing my comfort zone with a new style of writing not only further developed my skills, but encouraged me to explore other areas of interest and to use all proficiencies as a springboard and means to continue to my next goal.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to Moshe Kinderlehrer and to my editor and supervisor, Elizabeth Kratz, for providing me with this incredible experience.
By Aviva Jacobs
