I've always been a huge fan of the concept of internships.
When I was in college, my advisor highly promoted getting at least one internship in the junior or senior year in order to get hands-on experience in a certain field rather than just reading about it in a book.
By my two internships at WEWS with their 'Live on Five' Show and then in their editing department, it paved the way for my television career.
They were both fabulous experiences that I will never, ever forget.
I was one of the lucky ones.
I knew right away.
There are those folks who still don't know what they want to do or are not entirely in love with the internship they choose.
After being out yesterday with a sick Mom, I come back to find 2 amazing new phenomenon.
The first jaw-dropping announcement was that we finally received a new script printer. Trust me, this is BIG news.
We brought the printers, fax machines, scanners, etc., over from the old building.
I've written and shared before my frustration at trying to plan for my daily editorial meeting, printing out all of the pertinent information and my assignment sheet only to find a huge flashing message saying 'printer error' or 'printer jammed.'
It may seem like a small issue, but when the equipment is not working, it really makes it hard for one to do their job to the highest of standards.
Well, we have this fabulous new printer which makes no sound as it prints, and is just, perfect!
The second surprise is that my supervisor told me one of our new interns resigned.
It appears working in a newsroom was not quite what everyone touted it up to be.
I grant you this, TV is not a 'life or death' business like a doctor or nurse or even a pilot or someone who has other people's lives in their hands constantly.
But I will tell you this, working in the news business, on the news assignment desk is, at times, a very grueling grind.
We don't get lunch breaks. We don't get breaks. I don't smoke so I don't get the 'smoke break every couple of hours.'
My dance card is full from the minute I arrive until the minute I leave.
Heck, I can not even remember the last time I made it down the hall to the lunchroom for a soda pop.
There is no time to goof off, sit and chat about life for extended periods of time, or do anything that is not related to work.
Especially now since we have downsized and we are a smaller staff size, I wear many hats which entails me constantly working.
This is not even factoring in the hundreds of email received on a daily basis that we must read, answer, or put in the futures' files.
I adore this grind and am really good at wearing all of these hats and multi-tasking.
I LOVE working on the news assignment desk, being more involved with every facet of wkyc.com, and then all of the other duties assigned to me--or not assigned to me but falling in my lap which I must solve.
I was made for this role and love it! It's a wonderful fit!
However, it definitely is not for everyone.
And that's when internships come in handy. If you can't stand a particular task, you find out before you get a paying job and get hooked into doing it for a while.
You get the feel, see what fits, and walk away from those duties that are not quite your cup of tea!
