My week at The Durango Herald was a great chance to be exposed to the world beyond the classroom. Children are often taught to prepare with things such as math and science and given chances to work with real-life objects like money on paper. However, if you never get a chance to actually work with these things before entering the “real world,” you are in for a harsh landing when you graduate and are faced with true adult work. You have a chance to apply what you’re learning in the classroom to work in your chosen field, and you see what you need in order to achieve your goals.
My favorite part of the experience was going off-site to report. It was a lot of fun to be in the field, asking questions and getting the information we needed to create a story. During one such instance, I went to Rogers Reservoir with reporter Mary Shinn to gather information on the dam and a city water issue.
I also sat in with several other reporters during my internship. I had the pleasure of meeting people like Michelle Martin, who is in charge of the ad layout; Steve Lewis, a photographer; and Katie Chicklinski-Cahill, who designs pages; who all showed me what they do and what they use to do it. I sat in on meetings where tomorrow’s news was discussed, and I saw how everything was divided up. I saw how the paper interacted and communicated with the public and other services, such as the fire departments for many cities in the area.
What was most exciting for me was to see my name in print on the front page, with an article that I wrote next to it. I’ve always loved newspapers – holding them in my hand, flipping through the paper to see what had happened while I was asleep. I didn’t know how it worked until I got a chance to experience the behind-the-scenes action of the Herald, and I think this internship has made me love it even more. Journalism would be a chance for me to write for a living, which is my future career of choice.
