Second Feature, First Thank You

It is officially my third week on the job as the intern.  Hooray!

I’m pretty used to how things run in the News Room now.  I know my hours, I don’t forget to clock in and clock out anymore, I feel comfortable going to the break room whenever I need a snack, and I found out where the bathroom is.

(I’m also upset that the M&M’s have not been restocked in the vending machine.)

When I came in today, everyone was at lunch, so I got busy with the stuff that was at my desk.  A printed copy of my Century Plant feature was waiting for me to edit it.  I was really excited to get feedback on it because I love constructive criticism.  It’s impossible to improve if everyone just keeps telling you “good job” whenever you do something.  There’s always things to improve on, you just need someone to point you in the right direction sometimes.

I made the corrections, and when Roger got back from lunch he told me how I could make it even better, and I was grateful.  I want my first feature to be the best it can be.

I got the assignment for my second feature about a couple who will have been married 70 years tomorrow.  I called their daughter to set up an interview (and was only half as scared this time).  Except she didn’t answer the phone and I had to leave a voice-mail.  Queue panic while the automated voice tells me to leave a message after the beep.  I was successfully able to say my name, the name of the company, and why I was calling in the voice-mail, but it was probably the shortest and quietest voice-mail in history.

She called me back not long after and we got the interview set up for 1:00 tomorrow.  This will be my first interview on my own.  I’m a little nervous about being alone, but I’m also excited.  The story is so cute, I can’t wait to ask this couple about 70 years worth of marriage and what their secret is.

I also got my first thank you note today.  A few days ago, I typed up a letter from a woman who had submitted a picture of her two children when they were small.  After deciphering the cursive and learning to use the scanner, I got her letter and the picture up and ready to be printed in the paper.  She sent a thank you to Roger about how happy it had made her to see the picture in the paper.  Roger told me that even though it was addressed to him, I’d done the work for it.  It put a huge smile on my face to know that doing something as simple as putting a picture into the paper could make someone so happy.