Spotlight on Interns
Student Name: Alex Gowan-Nuehring
Major: Journalism
Class Of (Graduation Year): 2018
Name/ Location Of Intern Site: Dodge County Independent in Kasson, MN
Major Responsibilities: My duties involve writing articles, scheduling and conducting interviews, and taking photos for the newspaper.
How Did You Find Out About This Internship?: A family friend knew someone who worked at this paper. The friend got me the contact information for the paper’s publisher and I set up an interview.
What Has Been Your Favorite Part Of The Internship?: I enjoy figuring out how I can get various parts of the story to fit together nicely. I also like looking at the articles with my editor and seeing how I can improve my writing in the future.
What Has Been Your Most Challenging Part Of The Internship?: Initially, adjusting to a faster work pace was difficult. Time management is very important as I’m trying to conduct eight to ten interviews and write five or six articles in about four days.
What has Been The Biggest Lesson(s): Communication- be able to explain why you made certain decisions. Always get more information and ask more questions than you think you will need. Also, I’ve learned that I need to work more on learning Associated Press Style.
Advice To Other Students Preparing For An Internship: Get started on the internship search early. You should begin looking in October for spring internships, June for fall internships, and February for summer internships. These things don’t happen overnight. Also, reach out to everyone you know and ask if they know anyone who works in the same area as your major.
Anything Else You’d Like To Share: Don’t be ashamed to ask for help. Your internship supervisor would rather teach you than have you guess and do it the wrong way.