This internship has been hard, but rewarding in many ways. Searching for an internship I knew that I wanted to learn something new that was going to benefit me in the long run and help me add new skills to my resume. With this internship, I did that.
At this job I have worked with incredible people. All with great personalities and all whom love their jobs. My little cousin asked me in the first week why I wanted to work at a newspaper. Her exact words after this question were, "Don't they just write gossip in the paper for people to read." I had to giggle and tell her that I am selling advertising to show on the pages that have stories, and that the stories are things that have happened to people in our community. She then asked if I wrote gossip in advertising too.
Sales is not what it's all cracked up to be. Each year I host a fundraiser 5K walk/run to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis research and to help find a cure. I have to go around to businesses and ask for sponsorships, donations, silent auction items, and tshirt sales. In this situation the word no does not happen. People have known my mom for a long time because her and my dad both have been in this community since they were little. When my mom was diagnosed 8 years ago we had our community above all else standing behind us ready to support us. This was the only sales experience I had in life, was visiting businesses in my very own community where there was no known stranger. When I talked about this in my interview Phil was very impressed. I had never thought of this as sales. With that I thought I would be perfect for the job. My experience and the true duties of this job were nothing like I thought they would be. Also, it has made me slightly despise sales all together.
I struggle with asking others for money because I know how tight people's budgets often are. I know that sometimes they have troubles making ends meet at home, with their business, and with their personal wants and needs. Especially in Maryville, MO where most businesses that are going to run ads are locally owned and run. These owners have worked hard to establish a name for themselves. I am almost too understanding to sell ads because I found myself saying, "it's okay, don't feel bad that you can't buy an ad this week, I know things are tough right now."
Making the decision not to continue with this job after the internship was a very stressful decision (my scalp broke out in hives and I cried at least 3 times a day). Nobody knows what happens next in life so making a large decision like this is hard. I knew that I was not going to miss the commute or the job, and I had come up with a list of pros and cons of the job, but I will miss the people that I got to know while there. The short weeks that I participated in the internship with the Maryville Daily Forum, I made friendships with people in businesses all over southwest Iowa and Northwest Missouri. I also created a bond with the other employees from within the newspaper office. Things like this are never easy but they have to happen. With that internship under my belt I have moved on and was offered a job in the business office at Clarinda Regional Health Center. I appreciate this job just that much more because it's something that I love and adore, and also what I am going to school for. I finally feel like I made the right decision and this internship helped me grow personally and professionally in my career.
