The word "internship" makes my teeth grind. My hair curls when I hear "cover letter" and "resume." My muscles contract when I hear "follow-up email." I roll my eyes when I hear "networking."
Ugh, junior year buzzwords. MAKE IT STOP! I can't take it.
I'm just SO frustrated. I can't even tell you. Sometimes I freak myself out so much, I get an upset stomach and cry myself to sleep - only to wake up in the middle of the night to worry some more. It's not a good situation. EVERYBODY (students, professors, employers) puts so much emphasis on having an internship this summer. It's IMPERATIVE, they tell me. You HAVE to get one if you want to graduate with a job. I can't listen to that anymore.
You know what I get a lot? That I don't have enough experience. For an ENTRY-LEVEL INTERNSHIP. Seriously? How am I supposed to GET experience if I don't have enough EXPERIENCE TO GET EXPERIENCE? It's a stupid, vicious cycle. And how am I supposed to break out of it? I have no idea. NO IDEA.
And it's like the people in charge of hiring interns have never been where I am. If they have, you'd think they'd at least be considerate and return emails and phone calls. But most of them don't. Most of them just leave you dangling in an agonizing abyss of uncertainty.
Some actually say no. Which, I guess, is good. At least you know. But those stupid rejection letters kill me. "You were one of the top candidates." "You have outstanding qualities." I don't want to hear that at all. One of the top candidates? Pffft, I'd rather be dead last than second. Are you kidding me? Doesn't that just make it worse? I tried to to test out of my required math class. I had to get 50 points to test out - I literally got 49. I would rather have biffed it completely than to miss by ONE point. Same situation.
Maybe it's not the end of the world if I don't get something because I'm bound to get A job after graduation. Sure, A job - doing SOMETHING SOMEWHERE. Fine, I'll take it. But I've been busting my hump for almost 3 years so I can be a writer and the idea that I might not get to be one DOESN'T FEEL GOOD.
It could all work out. Who knows? Maybe I'll stumble upon a job that I completely adore but has nothing to do with what I'm studying - plenty of journalists I know didn't even study journalism in school (which, by the way, irks me to no end). Maybe. In the meantime, I just need someone to take a chance on me or just man up and tell me I'm not good enough.
Sorry, I'm kind of angry these days.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Facebook changes... again
Pardon me while I rant....
WHY DID FACEBOOK CHANGE AGAIN? WHY? It's awful. Allow me to break out one of my favorite sayings - if it ain't broke, DON'T FIX IT. Goodness gracious. I just got over the last round of changes and now they're springing more changes on us? No, that's not OK.
They think they can get away with it because it's not like we're all going to stop using Facebook. That'd be like the end of the world or something. And maybe they're right. I'm certainly not going to stop using it because they designers/developers made some really DUMB changes. But I'll grind my teeth every time I log on.
Is it just me, or does this look A LOT like Twitter? I don't Twitter - or tweet or whatever. But I've seen Twitter and the resemblance is definitely there. It's annoying. If I want a Twitter, I'll get a Twitter. It just so happens I don't want a Twitter, I want a Facebook - but now they're one and the same.
It's like a nebulous, homogenized, glob of online social networking.
It blows. I want the old, OLD Facebook back.
WHY DID FACEBOOK CHANGE AGAIN? WHY? It's awful. Allow me to break out one of my favorite sayings - if it ain't broke, DON'T FIX IT. Goodness gracious. I just got over the last round of changes and now they're springing more changes on us? No, that's not OK.
They think they can get away with it because it's not like we're all going to stop using Facebook. That'd be like the end of the world or something. And maybe they're right. I'm certainly not going to stop using it because they designers/developers made some really DUMB changes. But I'll grind my teeth every time I log on.
Is it just me, or does this look A LOT like Twitter? I don't Twitter - or tweet or whatever. But I've seen Twitter and the resemblance is definitely there. It's annoying. If I want a Twitter, I'll get a Twitter. It just so happens I don't want a Twitter, I want a Facebook - but now they're one and the same.
It's like a nebulous, homogenized, glob of online social networking.
It blows. I want the old, OLD Facebook back.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Rejection Letter
Just before I left for Spring Break I got a little letter in the mail from the Denver Post. It was a tiny little envelope and nothing at all to be excited about. Those tiny envelopes don't usually bring good news. Small envelopes usually mean bad news - your account is overdrawn, thanks but no thanks, fines from the library... something along those lines.
This envelope didn't have good news. It was a thanks, but no thanks.
Words like "unfortunately" and "reapply next year" and "qualifications" jumped off the page. It was all pretty standard.
I wasn't super disappointed. Getting that internship was a long shot, anyway. But at least I got a rejection letter. I wasn't left waiting in the abyss of the unknown. So there's the sliver lining.
Then I took a look at the envelope itself. It was postmarked 12/24.
Are you kidding me? 12/24??? It's MARCH!
In the end I'm glad I didn't get the internship. Could you imagine if I was accepted and then didn't get the letter until March? The Post would have passed me over. I wouldn't have contacted them and they would just assume I was no longer interested.
Can you imagine the agony?
Blessing in disguise if I've ever seen one.
This envelope didn't have good news. It was a thanks, but no thanks.
Words like "unfortunately" and "reapply next year" and "qualifications" jumped off the page. It was all pretty standard.
I wasn't super disappointed. Getting that internship was a long shot, anyway. But at least I got a rejection letter. I wasn't left waiting in the abyss of the unknown. So there's the sliver lining.
Then I took a look at the envelope itself. It was postmarked 12/24.
Are you kidding me? 12/24??? It's MARCH!
In the end I'm glad I didn't get the internship. Could you imagine if I was accepted and then didn't get the letter until March? The Post would have passed me over. I wouldn't have contacted them and they would just assume I was no longer interested.
Can you imagine the agony?
Blessing in disguise if I've ever seen one.
Rock on, Rocky staffers
If you read my last post, you know Denver lost The Rocky Mountain News a few weeks ago, putting dozens of seasoned journalists out of work.
But don't think of them as victims of an increasingly competitive and struggling industry; they certainly don't consider themselves victims.
In an inspirational move, former Rocky staffers started IWantMyRocky.com (now renamed InDeverTimes.com - visit). It's still the Rocky staffers doing what Rocky staffers do - reporting.
Unfortunately at the moment, they're doing what they do for free. They're selling subscriptions to their website, so maybe one day they'll be able to support a paid staff. Who knows?
But the fact that they aren't getting paid doesn't matter to me much. Journalism is about more than money - it's about spirit and service. And these guys are proving it. They didn't roll over and die; they fought back. They're fighting because the economy and the internet and other competition can't take away their love for what they do.
I admire the Rocky staffers and I'm inspired by their fight back. They're not only preserving the spirit of the Rocky Mountain News, but preserving the spirit of journalism.
But don't think of them as victims of an increasingly competitive and struggling industry; they certainly don't consider themselves victims.
In an inspirational move, former Rocky staffers started IWantMyRocky.com (now renamed InDeverTimes.com - visit). It's still the Rocky staffers doing what Rocky staffers do - reporting.
Unfortunately at the moment, they're doing what they do for free. They're selling subscriptions to their website, so maybe one day they'll be able to support a paid staff. Who knows?
But the fact that they aren't getting paid doesn't matter to me much. Journalism is about more than money - it's about spirit and service. And these guys are proving it. They didn't roll over and die; they fought back. They're fighting because the economy and the internet and other competition can't take away their love for what they do.
I admire the Rocky staffers and I'm inspired by their fight back. They're not only preserving the spirit of the Rocky Mountain News, but preserving the spirit of journalism.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Rocky Mountain News
So print media peeps were dealt another blow a few weeks ago. The Rocky Mountain News, a paper that has been in print for 150 years, shut down. 150 years of providing service to the community and it's gone.
To be honest, I got a little choked up.
It's one thing for the baby start-ups to go under, but a well-established and widely-respected big city newspaper like the Rocky? That's just sad. Admittedly, the Rocky has been on the outs for a while. I know they were trying to sell not too long ago. For the low, low price of $1 million (or something like that) you could buy a newspaper.
But in the end it just couldn't pull through its slump. It's so weird. I remember front pages from the election, the convention, when Bush declared war, 9/11, the Columbine shootings... I saved some of those. Maybe I won't get rid of them after all. I want one to hold on to. To remember the event, sure. But mostly to remember the newspaper that was once a powerful behemoth of information.
As a wanna be journalist from Colorado, it was just genuinely upsetting news. I feel like newspapers have a presence in their communities. There's something safe and reliable about newspapers. They're dependable -- at least, they were.
Maybe the internet is where it's all headed anyway, I don't know. But there's something so nice and comforting about the newspaper -- it's damp smell, the inky pages, the humorous ink blots that can black out half a story, the feeling that you have to be a member of the elite to actually be printed in the REAL LIFE NEWSPAPER -- that the internet will never be able to capture. And I don't want it to.
I want newspapers to be special forever. The Rocky certainly will be.
To be honest, I got a little choked up.
It's one thing for the baby start-ups to go under, but a well-established and widely-respected big city newspaper like the Rocky? That's just sad. Admittedly, the Rocky has been on the outs for a while. I know they were trying to sell not too long ago. For the low, low price of $1 million (or something like that) you could buy a newspaper.
But in the end it just couldn't pull through its slump. It's so weird. I remember front pages from the election, the convention, when Bush declared war, 9/11, the Columbine shootings... I saved some of those. Maybe I won't get rid of them after all. I want one to hold on to. To remember the event, sure. But mostly to remember the newspaper that was once a powerful behemoth of information.
As a wanna be journalist from Colorado, it was just genuinely upsetting news. I feel like newspapers have a presence in their communities. There's something safe and reliable about newspapers. They're dependable -- at least, they were.
Maybe the internet is where it's all headed anyway, I don't know. But there's something so nice and comforting about the newspaper -- it's damp smell, the inky pages, the humorous ink blots that can black out half a story, the feeling that you have to be a member of the elite to actually be printed in the REAL LIFE NEWSPAPER -- that the internet will never be able to capture. And I don't want it to.
I want newspapers to be special forever. The Rocky certainly will be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
