Last two weeks

The internship will be coming to an end really soon. I cannot believe that I have been interning here for five months. It was a great experience that I will be able to use with me in the future. I will use the information I learned from writing with Out-and-About Magazine to help me with my upcoming career choices. I feel that I have grown as a writer since I have been with Out-and-About. It was helpful for me to see how a magazine operates compared to a newspaper. I enjoyed writing the feature stories. I also really liked being able to write for Cruising Magazine. It was cool to write about something in which I did not have any prior knowledge. The best part about journalism is getting to learn about new and different subjects. I will be able to take away a lot of valuable information I've learned since I've been at the internship.

Over the past two weeks, I worked on advances, the calendar events, and the gig updates. The last two weeks were not stressful. I just cannot believe that my time is already finished with the internship. I also did some editing for CityLife. The CityLife deadline is at the end of this week. This has truly been a great experience.

Events Calendar

Last week and this week has been draining at Out-and-About. The deadline for the May issue has quickly approached. Where in the world did time go. I felt like we were just getting ready for the April issue deadline. The last two weeks have been exhausting for me because all I have been working on is the events calendar. I have spent 16 hours compiling information for the May, June, and July calendars. But luckily, I'm almost finished with putting all the information in for the calendars. Putting together the calendars has inspired me to take advantage of Delaware's activities over the summer and attend a few.

The May issue is just about ready to be sent out for Cruising and Out-and-About Magazine. I also wrote an advance for Out-and-About. It was about a bird-a-thon. The event sounds rather unique. I'm not sure that I'd be able to be a part of it because I couldn't tell you the first thing when it comes to birds.

Back from Spring Break

I was away for the week during Delaware's Spring Break. I came back to Out-and-About nice and refreshed. I handed in the final story about Joe Troilo. I was pretty satisfied with how the story ended up coming out. I felt there was a lot of information and not enough space, but that's how the world of journalism goes. I enjoyed writing the article because it was a challenge for me to really pay attention to what was most important to my story. I decided to focus on Troilo's early life and how he got into his fascination with street rods and old cars. I then wrote about his involvement with legislation and his organization, Mid-Atlantic Street Rod Association (MASRA). I also worked on a 400-word piece for Cruising about the legislation that has been affecting street rodders and their hobby. This was not the most interesting information I ever had to write about, but I enjoyed it because it was a learning process for me.

The Cruising deadline was quickly approaching, so Jerry and Mike had me compile one more shorter story for the publication. I wrote about a automobile museum that will be celebrating an anniversary in May. The museum looked so cool that I might try to take a trip over there sometime, maybe this summer when I have nothing to do. I also worked on some editing for my advances that I compiled for the May issue.

It was a nice week back after being away for Spring Break.

Cruising Time

Last week, I worked on some interviews for Out-and-About Magazine and also Cruising Magazine. For Cruising, I'm writing a story about Joe Troilo, a member of Mid-Atlantic Street Rod Association. As I've said before, I don't know the first thing about automobiles, but through writing these articles for Cruising, I've enjoyed learning about the world of Motor Heads. The interviews have really been interesting. Mr. Troilo knew everything inside and out about high-performance cars and street rods. It was fascinating to sit back and here him talk about his life with street rods. He was very passionate about the subject, and of course, that always makes for a fun interview. I also interviewed Jon Springer last week for O&B. Springer is a writer who just came out with a book, "Mets by the Numbers." While I am a die-hard Phillies fan and absolutely hate the Mets, I really enjoyed this interview because it was sports' related. Springer graduated from Delaware in 1989 and even worked at The Review. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. But I enjoyed talking to him because it showed me that even the most talented writers had to start from where I am now.

I also finished writing the gigs calendar for the month of April. The deadline for O&B is quickly approaching.

This week picked up

This week at Out-and-About Magazine was rather busy for me. On Wednesday, I finished filling out the calendar, which served as a relief because it's so boring. Mike gave me a few advances to work on for the April edition of the magazine. I worked on a Star War's piece. The Franklin Institute currently has a Star War's exhibition. I enjoyed writing this advance because I was really able to be creative. I started the piece with a quote from the movie. I enjoy being able to use my creativity, even though I'm still learning how to write with a feature tone. I have been really used to the newspaper style, but I think I'm gradually starting to get the hang of it. But life is a learning process, so I'm just enjoying learning how to write with a feature style.

On Friday, it was really miserable outside, so it felt like a long day at the office. It was raining really hard. I worked on an advance about an art exhibit that is opening. This one was more difficult to write because I felt limited with what I could write. Next week, I'm going to work on some more advances and then get started on the article for Cruising Magazine.

Slow week

Last week was very slow for me when I went into the office on Wednesday and Friday. There was not too much for me to work on since it was the very end of the month. The newest edition of Out-and-About Magazine came out on Saturday. And once again, it's always really neat to open the magazine and see my name under the advances or articles. I was really impressed with how my West End Neighborhood House clip came out. I definitely plan on using that piece as part of my resume. Speaking of resumes, that's one thing I don't want to start thinking about yet, and that's finding a job once I graduate in the spring.

But for most of the week I just worked on the calendar events. It takes a really long time when I'm doing it by myself. I liked in the winter because there were other interns. But now I'm the only one and the work load is a lot more for me. As I've said before, the calendar is such a boring task. The time seems to take forever when I'm working on the calendar.

Jerry asked me if I'd like to work on another article for Cruising Magazine. So that was my highlight of the week.

Neigborhood House and Cruisin

Over the last couple of weeks with Out-and-About Magazine, I have been getting the opportunity to write extended pieces. I was nervous at first to start writing these, but I got to work and ended up having a blast writing them. My first piece was for Cruisin' Magazine, a sister magazine to Out-and-About. I had to write about Jim Mezz, the owner of Atlantic Speed. Atlantic Speed is a speed shop store. I spent about three hours at Mezz's place and learned a lot. I don't know too much about cars, but Mezz had a great time explaining everything to me. I ended up writing a feature piece about Jim and his shop. He has even worked with famous racers, which was really cool. The story ended up being about 800 words, so of course, a nice clip to add to the file.

The following week I worked on a feature piece about the West End Neighborhood House in Wilmington. This place is a social service agency. The business celebrates 125 years this year. So, that's a really neat fact. Everyone who I interviewed for this story was really nice and helpful. They gave me more than enough information for the piece. This story ended up being about 600 words. Mike gave me some helpful hints about this story. He gave me tips on how to tighten my writing. I have learned that this is my biggest weakness. But, that's why I'm taking an internship, so I can improve and get better.

More advances and such

Last week, I was able to work on more advances for the Out-and-About Magazine. The most exciting part of last week however, was getting to see my advances that I wrote for the February edition. The new magazine came out on Thursday and I got to see what I was able to write. It was a really satisfying feeling to see my actual work in print. This was my first work that I've ever had in a magazine, so it was relly neat. Most of the work I have had published has been in newspapers. Mike wanted me to take a moment and go through the magazine and read the finished products and he wanted me to see how everything ended up coming out. I looked at the layout of the magazine and came up with a few questions regarding the final product. Mike wanted the other interns and I to come up with questions so that we could talk to him about it. Toward the end of the week, I sat down with Mike and he went over and discussed why certain decisions were made about how to publish specific stories. I found the meeting informative because I learned more about how a magazine staff operates.

On Friday, I did not go into work because I went up to Philadelphia and attended the Philadelphia Phillies College Media Day. This was extremely informative and the best part of the day was getting to hear from Jayson Stark, a writer with ESPN. It was a motivational day because I got to hear from successful people who talked about how they got started. I found it interesting that a lot of the writers started out just like me--nervous and unsure about what exactly they wanted to do. And P.S., the Phillies are my favorite team, so it was awesome just being in Citizens Bank Park.

Out-and-About Deadline

Last week was the Out-and-About Magazine's deadline. When I went into the office on Monday morning, there was a pile of articles on my desk. I had to edit the stories that were going into the February edition of the magazine. The stories were really impressive, and just as it was with the CityLife editing, I did not find too many errors. The biggest changes I made were to paragraph indentations or to small spelling errors. I truly enjoyed the experience of being able to see how everyone in the office reacted to the deadline. Once again, everyone remained calm during the entire week. Monday thru Wednesday was strictly used to get ready for the Out-and-About deadline. I saw just about all of the articles. The cover story for the February edition was intriguing. It talked about smokers around the Delaware area and told the personal stories of why these people began the addicting habit. It really made me think because a lot of people in my family smoke and it was interesting to hear the personal struggles behind the addiction. I just can't imagine what people go through when they try to stop the behavior.

Thursday and Friday were slower days because the final touches of the magazine had been finished for February's edition. Mike told me that everyone in the office was there until about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday...Wow! On the last two days of the week, I took it easy and looked up events for the March calendar and searched the internet to see when bands were playing. I added these changes to the data base for the magazine. On Friday, I was able to write an advance about a Bluegrass Festival that will be coming to the Wilmington area. I think I might have to check out the festival...and I'm not even a Bluegrass fan.

Deadline for City Life Magazine

Last week, everyone in the office was getting ready for the deadline of the CityLife Magazine. It was really neat getting to see how all of this works. It was surprising to see how calm everyone remained in the office. Starting on Monday, I did a lot of editing for the magazine. Since I was one of the last to see the articles, there was not much that needed to be changed. I found a few paragraphs that were indented too far and a few words that needed to be switched, but other than that, everything was ready to go. I did not have to write any advances last week because the work mainly had to do with editing. Everyone in the office said that last week was for CityLife Magazine and then the next week will be preparing for the deadline of OutandAbout Magazine.

On Tuesday, I did a lot more research for the magazine's 20th anniversary edition, which will come out in March. Mike Pollock wanted me to look for events that happened around the area. I found that Joe Biden was the senator 20 years ago, and yet, he still faithfully serves the state as its senator. It was really interesting getting to do all of the research because I have lived in the state for 21 years and yet I still learned a lot by looking up the information.

I did a lot more editing on Wednesday for the deadline for CityLife Magazine. Toward the end of the afternoon it got slower for myself and the other intern. On Thursday, I did more research because Mike said there was not as much to do since everything had been finished with CityLife. The research was getting harder to do because I was having to do a lot more digging since I had been looking for information for awhile. He told me to get ready for next week because he said it would get really hectic with the deadline of OutandAbout approaching.

On Friday, I filled out the events calendar for the month of March. This takes a long time to do, but it's not very exciting.

Beginning at Out-and-About

Last week, I began my internship at Out-and-About Magazine. The first couple days of the internship I was writing information for the magazine's event calendar. This took awhile to do because it was tedious work. I had to go to the websites of different groups around the New Castle County area and find out what events are going on for the month of Feb. Even with just the first few days, I can see that working at a magazine is much different than working with a newspaper. At The Review, my stories are for the next day, but here, stories are for the next month.

On Tuesday, I began writing advances for the magazine. I would take press releases and write between 150-200 words. I found that the most difficult part of writing these were trying to really cut down on the unecessary words. These advances will help with slimming down my writing. I wrote an advance on the First State Boxing Series. This event will be huge for Delaware because the fight card will premiere on ESPN Feb. 8. I wrote another advance about the Wilmington Photo Club. This group is having a major photo exhibit during the month of Feb. I might have to check it out myself. There will be hundreds of photographs from around the world.

During the end of the week, the other intern, Sarah Wahlberg and I, went over to the Wilmington Public Library and researched for awhile. Out-and-About will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary in March, so I have to find out what events were going on during 1988. I had a lot of fun finding out this information. Through my research, I found that not a lot has changed. There was a major writer's strike in 1988, the U.S. was not getting along with Iran, various players were being caught with steroids (Ben Johnson had to give up his medals that he received in the summer Olympics), etc.

I really enjoyed my first week at the internship and look foward to the upcoming weeks.