How I survived my virtual summer internship

I don’t have to say that this year has been anything but ordinary. Everyone in this community, this country, and this entire world is well aware of that fact. Because of the global pandemic, our daily lives have been turned upside down, and connecting virtually has become the new normal.

People are keeping in touch with friends through FaceTime, going on virtual Tinder dates, and attending online classes via Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Collaborate. The professional world has also evolved; many companies and organizations are converting to a virtual format.

I took an editorial intern position at 10 Missions Media, a magazine publishing company in St. Paul. When COVID-19 hit, I ended up being a guinea pig for a virtual summer internship. Katie Ward ‘21 (English), took a similar blow when her teaching position at the Loft Literary Center went virtual. Here’s how our experiences panned out.

The Position

Mandy: My daily duties as an editorial intern at 10 Missions Media included typing press releases, interviewing sources, writing and editing original magazine stories, and fact-checking.

This position was quite unique because I got lots of experience writing stories, which is rare in the magazine journalism industry. At most magazine companies, an editorial intern’s main job is calling sources to fact-check articles.

Katie - This summer, Katie worked at the Loft Literary Center as a teacher. She taught a virtual creative writing class for 13-17 year-olds using Zoom and Google Classroom.

Katie Ward ‘21 (English) had the great opportunity to teach a creative writing class for middle and high school age students this summer.

The Structure

Mandy - The company I worked for this summer did a really great job of connecting with their interns even though we were working virtually. We met for at least 30 minutes over Google Meet for daily updates, check-ins, or professional training sessions. Plus, every Monday, both interns were included in the weekly editorial team meeting.

The rest of the time was pretty flexible. When we did not have meetings, we had plenty of time to interview sources, work on stories, and do miscellaneous assignments.

Katie - When it came to her experience with the virtual environment, Katie mentioned that The Loft did a really awesome job adapting to moving online. They sent each of the teachers tutorials for the platforms that they would be using and had tech professionals standing by during classes to help with any difficulties.

The Experience

Mandy - Overall, I felt great about the opportunity to write for three magazines that are published in the “real world.” It was an unpaid internship, but I wrote numerous articles that will be in several issues of FenderBender, Ratchet+Wrench, and NOLN.

Over the course of the summer, I wrote roughly 10 stories for the three magazines created and published by 10 Missions Media in St. Paul, Minnesota.

My supervisors also made an effort to help us interns set goals for the summer and achieve them. During the three months of my internship, I spoke with seven people in the company about their career paths and the magazine publishing industry. These meetings gave me the opportunity to figure out if the magazine industry was right for me. More than that, though, I expanded my network and received invaluable career advice.

Katie - As with any virtual experience, getting used to the technology and hammering out the kinks can be extremely challenging. Using platforms that you are not very familiar with can also lead to a few embarrassing moments.

“On the first day, I accidentally sent a desperate email to a coworker asking for help while I was screen-sharing,” said Katie. “No one said anything, but…not my most professional image.” 

Katie also expressed that organizing an online class and keeping herself fully engaged in what she was teaching was harder than she anticipated.

“I’ve just gotten so much mind-fog from this new reality that focusing felt like running a 5K after not exercising for a year,” she said.

The Disappointment

Mandy - I must express that I was very fortunate to intern from home, as I have many friends who missed out on work opportunities this summer due to the pandemic. I am lucky to have worked for a company that was willing to continue the internship even in the midst of the national emergency. 

However, I do wish the interns were able to come into the office because I would have loved to see the editorial team everyday face-to-face. It would have been great to have my own professional workspace to write articles, rather than the makeshift desk set up in my bedroom at home. The coronavirus has made me realize that, even as an introvert, I crave personal connections with people — especially when learning about a possible career!

Katie - Katie was disappointed that her class lost the sense of community it would have had in an intimate in-person setting. However, she mentioned that it is possible to have a positive virtual class experience if everyone agrees to work towards it. 

“At the end of the class the kids didn’t want to leave the Zoom meeting because they were having such a good time together,” said Katie. “All the kids always had their cameras on and always wanted to share, so that made the community feeling much easier to find.”