Tuesday, April 2, 2013

The End of an Experience

Silhouette of  the Woodbridge Ferris statue at Ferris State University
On the 29th of March my time as editorial intern ran out. It was an interesting experience, which I will not soon forget, but it opened my eyes to a few things. That while I love writing and copy editing, I really am not the best on working on editorial materials or working in an environment where there is no office. These are my own faults, not the company's. The Musa and Penumbra staff were nothing but supportive, educational, and wonderful coworkers.

Hopefully they find another intern with a little more vigor, and preferably a journalism minor. I know that lack of writing knowledge had my head spinning. An English major knows how to write, to be sure, but we also lack a lot of skill that a journalist might have. We're good at analysis of work, but there is so much more I felt I should have known. Then again an English major may be able to do it, they'd just have to be quicker at learning on their feet than I was. I can think of a few fellow students back at college who might have handled the experience better than I did.

In the end the internship made me realize that while I may want to try this sometime again in the future, for now I need to focus on gaining new skills for another career. A career I feel I would be more stable in. I decided that this summer I will re-enroll at Ferris State University for a degree in Computer Information Systems.

I went to a career counselor about two thirds of the way through my internship realizing I needed a change, and this is the path that we found seemed to suit me. So, for now I'm going to say goodbye to the professional writing world and hello to the tech industry. It was fun, but I can honestly say, I didn't know what I was getting into. I may still try to write a novel, but this time it will be as a happy author with a completed manuscript outside of the industry.

Happy Writings!