Connecticut College CELS Internship Blogs 2007

I have put these three months to good use, and I am very proud of myself. I am going to have an honest confession right now...as far as jobs are concerned, I have a hard time sticking to things. I could show myself in a positive light and call it ambition...but really, I am too restless to deal with a minimum wage job at a coffee shop or retail store. I just get bored easily.

Although this internship has had its boring moments, especially on slow Fridays where it is raining outside, I have looked forward to work every day and have been excited to return to my weekly schedule on the weekends. What does this show me about the future? Maybe I have found my true passion: magazines. One those days at work where I did read various magazines all day, I was still stimulated. I wasn't idly flipping through the pages...I was examining. I looked at advertisments, their placement, and had a growing appreciation for their aesthetic properties. I read the articles, noticed the threads that run through publications each month. It was really surprising to notice how all these competitive publications cover and write about the same things. In July alone, The White Stripes were on the cover of about 6 different magazines and graced Interview's cover the following month.

I am not at the point where I can reflect upon all that I've learned during my internship, mainly just the fact that I learned a lot more than is apparent to me. Sure, I can talk about all the technical things I learned, but I think the results are set a little deeper in my mind. It taught me how to look at, understand, and appreciate magazines as a whole...editorial (my main interest) and advertisments (my focus this summer) together.

There is one thing about Interview that I feel the need to gripe about. Connecticut College has a very environmentally conscious side to it...reflected this summer through Alex's internship and through some of my closest friends at Conn. I would not consider myself to be incredibly educated in environmentalism or a dedicated environmentalist, but I do what I can. Especially recycling. Brant Publications has no recycling program whatsoever. Not even a bin where people can put their water/soda bottles. With all the paper that is used through printing, photocopies...MAKING A MAGAZINE...there is no system established for recycling office paper. It is incredibly wasteful. I spent the first week covertly seeking some sort of recycling bin...and finally, I asked my boss Marie about it. As a Conn alum, she was very sad to inform me that there was no recycling program at Brant. They used to have it apparently and got rid of it.

This bothers me. A lot. Mainly because it is not hard to recycle and it is just so wasteful. Maybe in my last week, I will put in inquiries and requests for getting the recycling program back. I'm sure Connecticut College will support my ambitions!