By Beth Byrd
Editor-in-Chief
Dense clouds enveloped the plane but finally thinned during a bumpy flight from Denver to reveal a landscape covered with evergreen trees and specks of lights from homes miles below.
These breathtaking sights were overshadowed by Mt. Hood: white, pristine and reigning over Portland, Ore.
It was June 2012, and I was the happiest college intern that higher education has ever known.
My goal as a freshman was to be ready to attack the “real world” with a vengeance by the time I graduated. In order to achieve this goal, I considered just about every major offered, joined more organizations than I can remember and took as many classes as I could pack into each semester.
At first, I felt that I was preparing myself for the future. My GPA convinced me of this assumption, at least for a while.
After wasting more than two years at this frantic, neck-breaking pace, however, I began to see that the recipe for post-graduation success must consist of more than just good grades.
Several semesters wiser, I now realize that nothing has better prepared me for my future than internships.
First, notice that I used the plural form of the word. Students need multiple internships, if only for one reason: Some internships flop. Big time.
My first newspaper internship during my junior year began with a yelling match between a co-worker and the owner, and ended with the owner literally screaming at me. I knew I had truly found my life calling when I still had a desire to write after enduring three horrifying months in that newsroom.
Second, internships reveal what students actually enjoy doing – or do not. Still trying to scrub the sulfur out of my clothes from the previous experience, I began planning my summer trek to Oregon for a much different internship as a freelance journalist and photographer.
During my stay, I got lost in the strange and vibrant city of Portland, splashed in the icy waters of the Pacific Ocean, hiked moss-covered forests, felt the mists of crashing waterfalls and walked in the steps of fictional vampires.
I wrote stories about people and places I truly cared about, worked at my own pace and loved every millisecond of my time with Oregonians who opened up their lives, hearts and homes to me.
I may never have been brave enough to become a freelance writer after graduation, which is something I now plan to do. My internship acted as a safety net for me to try something a little offbeat and risky without worrying about the bills and responsibilities that will accumulate once I become an alumna.
Third, internships provide a way for students to assess their strengths and weaknesses. For instance, I had never attended a court hearing until my current internship at The Jackson Sun.
As I stumbled over the confusing legal terms several weeks ago while writing an article on a court case, I realized I had not fully grasped some of the information I had studied in a previous reporting class. That was something I am glad to have figured out now, rather than once I have an actual job.
Seeing my weaknesses, such as my lack of skills in court reporting, helps me know where I need to improve as a journalist.
But knowing my strengths, which includes food writing, gives me a good idea of the type of career I may want to pursue after graduation.
Looking back at my experiences, any reasonable person can see that internships are not easy. Internships make students work harder, think faster and act quicker than any test or homework assignment given in a classroom.
These experiences often place students in situations that make them uncomfortable and stretch them beyond what they think they can handle.
As someone who has seen both the good and bad sides of internships, however, I cannot think of a better way students can prepare themselves for the day after they walk across the stage.
Beth Byrd is a senior journalism major.
