Fast First Week

I have worked for my parents for as long as I can remember. Working on the farm, in the fields, and at the family owned corn maze have been my only work experiences. How would I ever get an internship required for graduation if the only experience I have is working for Mom and Dad? That’s not a real job, is it?

I applied to 20 different businesses for a summer internship. The amount of rejection emails I received dampened my spirits and made me feel worthless.

I went into the interview with Hood Magazine thinking it would end in yet another rejection. Little did I know that my quest for a summer internship would stop here. I was offered the job on the spot, and knowing that the internship position I applied for was right up my alley, I accepted.

Example Hood magazines on the office table.

My first day went great! I got there, was introduced to everyone, and was given a mini-tour of the office. Once I got the feel of things, my supervisor, who is the president and publisher of the magazine, had me write copy for an ad to be placed in the next issue of Hood. It was nerve-racking, but I felt so important at that moment and gave it my all. After that, I sat down with my supervisor to brainstorm creative ideas for photos that we were going to have taken the next day at a photo shoot to be included with each article in the next magazine. After we had the photo ideas ready, I was assigned a final task for the day. I relocated to the conference room where boxes wall to wall sat with heaping mounds of past magazine issues. It was unorganized and cluttered. My supervisor wanted me to change that. So, I sifted through all the boxes, put them in piles and in chronological order, and placed two of each past issue into a filing cabinet and bookshelf organizer.

The next day was not as awesome as I thought it was going to be. We met a photographer at Apple Tree Children’s Center to start the shoot. My supervisor, Steffanie, sent me to get glasses for the shoot from Vision Care quickly. It was the exact opposite of quick. The traffic in Sioux Falls was awful, and it seemed like no matter which street I took to make the long trek to the clear other side of town, I got nowhere quickly and hit almost every light red. When I got back to Apple Tree with glasses in hand, they had already finished shooting the outdoor pictures, and we were now going to go to the photographer’s studio. We were there for maybe half an hour when Steff let me go home early because of the scary-looking sky and tornado warning. So, yes, I spent most of my limited time driving around Sioux Falls, but she said that getting those glasses for the shoot helped her a lot and made the pictures look so much better. Therefore, I’m glad I was able to be there to help.

This is a glasses picture similar to the one we shot.

Friday flew by super quickly. I was instructed by Jillian to continue organizing past issues of magazines. I finished before Steff got to work, so I vacuumed the office and conference room. They were both on the nasty side, so vacuuming made me feel better.

When Steff got there, and I did a lot of miscellaneous things like filled out and sent a wedding RSVP for her, divided cupcakes into fourths, and gave her dog treats (no, I didn't give the dog cupcakes).

Then came the big one. I helped her make a “dummy” of the next magazine issue. Basically, that means doing the layout of the magazine from cover to cover deciding where articles and ads are going to be placed. It was a frustrating task, but together, we got it done.

We later had a meeting with other staff members. We discussed a few things that I didn’t find very enthralling, but Steff saved the best for last. Hood Magazine had an essay contest for Father’s Day. The contestants had to answer why their father was the best in order to be in the running for a $200 Scheel’s gift card. There were 49 submissions, and we sifted through and chose which ones we liked best. That was the best part of my day. I loved reading all those stories, and some were serious tear-jerkers. Kids can write!

Excitement has consumed me waiting to see what is still to come!