Everything is still going great here out in Washington D.C, although last week was a rather intense, but very interesting, time for me at my internship. There was a change of plan to the May issue, which includes the section called "Destination America." There was supposed to be an article on Memphis, TN included in the section (as Smithsonian Magazine tries to cover all areas of the United States.) However, the author had written a 10,000 word piece, instead of a 3,000 piece and it was so good that they wanted to keep it as a proper feature for another, future issue. This resulted in a massive gaping hole where The South was supposed to be covered in the "Destination America" section. Consequently, this meant that a story which had been 'killed' a couple of years back on the Natchez Trace had to resurrected. This meant a mad rush for everyone to get the story ready on time for publication. This allowed me to do my first bit of reporting, which my boss said I should take advantage of.
You see, the problem with the Natchez piece is that we already knew one of our key sources had died and we needed to make sure that wasn't the case for the rest of story. Thankfully, we discovered most other elements of the article were accurate and the story is now almost ready. This was a great insight for me to see that things do not always run smoothly and one way or another you have to come up with a back-up plan. Issues always have to go out on time.
This week also saw my first two stories that I had worked on, Acoma and Conner Prairie, go into their final stages and I was able to see the layout. It was really strange for me to see the articles, which I had crossed words out on, marked big red circles on and generally just scribbled all over with my pencil, in its final stages looking not far from what we will see in the May issue. It really gave me a sense of achievement.
Last week, for school, was cupcake time! Greg and I worked on a 3-minute video piece about Georgetown Cupcakes that had opened last month. Everyone had been going crazy for them - there were lines outside the door and the owners had to close the store for a few hours at a time to cope with the demand. It was a frivolous story, but I thought it would be fun to cover. After a few initial bumps that we managed to iron out, the story came along quite well and Greg and I had a bit of fun with the soundtrack, although I have to say "Hey good-looking, what you got cooking" has somewhat stayed in my head since then!
On Tuesday, we met Carol Knapps from RTNDA/F who creates journalism programs/projects for high school students, to teach them writing, videography, editing, radio, etc. We were asked by her to create a 3-minute video piece on the program and its students, which will then be put up on the website. Therefore, at the end of this week we are visiting the Friendship Public Charter School to film the children at work. In school this week they are working on a project concerning the 40th Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination, and connecting how it relates to the election.
Social life is still going well, I am having a really great time – it is so much fun! Tomorrow is my birthday, which I am really looking forward to, although turning 22 makes me feel old, especially when I go out on the weekend and I discover everyone is a sophomore – (to be 19!) Anyway, I’m even more looking forward to the end of the week/next week, as 14 of us are sharing a house in Daytona Beach, Florida for Spring Break! I can’t wait– I need some sun! Not looking forward to the 12-hour drive down there, but I’m sure it will be worth it when I get there. As you can probably tell I’m definitely trying to do the whole American student experience!
Next stop…road trip across America of course!
See you after some fun in the sun!
-Natalia
