My desire to live the life of a journalist began in high school. I have always had a knack for writing, and when an opportunity to take a journalism class arose, I went for it.
The moment I first saw my name in print, I knew that this was what I was meant to do. While nothing I wrote in optimism from my early undergraduate years has been replaced with a dose of reality.I walked the stage in December and received a degree in journalism and advertising and moved back into my childhood home the next day, unemployed and unsure of what the future would hold for me. Roughly five and a half months later I have finally found some hope in the dying medium of print. I accepted this internship with YES! Weekly with a new hope for my future in this business and I hope to walk away from it with the confidence and ability to make a living as a writer when my time here is through.
In college I learned the basics of journalism: a headline, how to conduct an interview. The one thing my professors did not teach me, however, was how to find a job or internship in this fiercely competitive industry. Now that I am working with YES! Weekly I hope that my educational gaps will be filled.
Outside of my worries and hopes about my future as a journalist, there are other things about me I suppose you should know. I am from the Pilot Mountain area, which means I make the hour-long trek to Greensboro almost daily and have already seen my life flash before my eyes on I-40 multiple times since I began. This also means that I have a lot to learn about the big cities of the Triad, as I am accustomed to a population of roughly 1,500 and a community that basically shuts down at 9 p.m. My free time up till now was spent working at East Surry High School as an English tutor for students in 9th and 10th grades. My job has been preparing them for their EOC testing and for the state writing test. Through my time there I have learned two things: Teachers are those days will ever find its way to the desk of a future employer, the time did instill in me an intense love of writing and, through it, the ruffling of feathers. I found a passion for calling out our administration, faculty and staff as well as my fellow students when they were not performing their jobs as I thought they should. This passion followed me to Appalachian State University, where I worked on the student paper, The Appalachian, throughout my years there.
I still love journalism. But some of the how to construct a news story, how to write among the noblest people on the planet; and I never want to be a full-time teacher. The job of teaching our children and instilling a love of learning is not an easy one, but our teachers put their hearts and souls into these efforts.
Aside from my work as a tutor and my duties as an intern, I work as a volunteer in a free medical clinic at Green Street United Methodist Church. This clinic allows anyone access to medical treatment from accredited doctors and also provides them with medication and health counseling. While I have heard some of the saddest stories during my time there, I have also been inspired.
Now that I have shared what I can about myself I want to ask some favors of our readers. I need your help to become the best I can while I’m here, so I ask that you let me know what you expect and want from me. When you think I am not living up to your expectations, let me know. When there is an event that is important to you and your community that you think I should know about, tell me. I am here for a learning experience and I know that the education that I hope to get from this internship will not only come from my co-workers, but also from you. I look forward to my time here this summer and I hope that I live up to the expectations of the paper as well as all of you.’ My e-mail is lindsayc@yesweekly.com.
I look forward to hearing about you.
