I have been interning at Herald Community Newspapers since late May, and have gained so much valuable experience because of it. To be honest, the whole internship was extremely rewarding, and I have never been prouder of myself. However, there are some parts that stick out, one being that four of my stories were chosen by the senior editor to be published on the front page of the newspaper. This is an incredible, sought-after accomplishment in the journalism world and something I did not think would happen while I was interning. It felt awesome to see my front page stories in the newspapers being sold at the delis, diners, and pharmacies in my area. It was also nice to be able to show my family and friends what I have been working on when the articles were published.
The most challenging part of my internship was adhering to a certain type of writing style while working on articles. When writing for news, journalists write in Associated Press (AP) Style, which is very different when compared to writing in standard American English. Sometimes I would forget some of the rules of AP Style, or write in a mixture of AP Style and the standard way of writing. When the senior editor caught these mistakes, she would explain the corrections to me, which helped me improve. Writing is the cornerstone of journalism, and is the most important skill in the profession. Though I am far from a perfect writer, my internship at Herald Community Newspapers helped me achieve my main goal for the internship, which was to improve my writing.