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Students
Share Stories About Summer Internships
Boggs shows a copy of the Democrat and Chronicle
in Rochester, N.Y. He worked as a copyeditor intern for the
daily newspaper this summer. |
“Boot
camp’’ is Robert Boggs’ term for describing
the intensive training he received during the summer.
The UT
Tyler senior from Gilmer was one of 100 college students selected
nationwide to participate in the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund’s
2003 Newspaper Editing Intern Program, based on recommendations,
a student essay and a written exam.
The summer
internship, which included 10 weeks in Rochester, N.Y., began
with a pre-internship residency at Florida Southern College
in Lakeland, Fla., where Boggs dug his heels deep into the
trenches of copyediting.
|
“The
best way to describe the pre-internship in Florida is copyeditor
boot camp,’’ Boggs, a double major in journalism and
computer science, said of his time at the Dow Jones Center for Editing
Excellence. “It was a two-week crash course on everything
we needed to know as copyeditors. I really enjoyed that experience.’’
Sessions were held seven days a week, usually from
morning until 10 p.m. or later. During breakfast at 8 a.m., interns
were expected to check the local newspaper, The Ledger, for errors.
“We would
begin critiquing the paper at 9 a.m. and then, for the rest of the
day, we would have sessions on topics such as good headline and
good cutline writing and journalism ethics,’’ Boggs
said. “They took us out to eat a couple of times but most
of the time they had our meals sent in. We had one Sunday off, when
we were able to do what we wanted until our sessions began at 7
that night.’’
Boggs left Florida
well prepared for his assignment in Rochester with the Democrat
and Chronicle, a daily newspaper with a circulation of more than
232,000. He spent eight weeks as a copyeditor with duties including
editing stories and writing headlines and photographic cutlines,
and two weeks as a page designer, one of his favorite areas in journalism.
|
Residing
in the city of Rochester was an experience in itself, said
Boggs, who sublet an apartment from a student at Rochester
Institute of Technology in Brighton, about six miles from
the newspaper. Boggs said he liked the apartment but the television
did not work and the air conditioner “kind of cut out
on me. I spent the whole summer with no TV, no air conditioning
and no car.’’
Being without television was “liberating,’’
Boggs said. He spent more time reading, and occasionally rode
his bike to the video store, about three miles away, to rent
a DVD to watch on his laptop.
|
The Democrat
and Chronicle, located at 55 Exchange Blvd., is the hometown
newspaper of Rochester, N.Y. It is distributed in the morning,
seven days a week.
|
Boggs said the
entire internship experience was enlightening and fun. “It
was definitely one of the best things I’ve ever done,’’
he said, adding that he returned to Tyler with several new ideas
for his job as editor in chief of The Patriot, UT Tyler’s
student newspaper.
He also is a
part-time online copyeditor for the Tyler Morning Telegraph and
a resident assistant at the University Pines student apartments.
National
Portrait Gallery
Donna Giroux was accepted to the Smithsonian
Institute internship program at the National Portrait Gallery
in Washington, D.C. |
Donna
Giroux’s summer did not turn out as expected.
The UT Tyler graduate student, who is studying journalism and
art history and has a background in photography, applied to
participate in the Smithsonian Institute summer internship program
at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. But she
certainly did not count on being accepted. Thousands of students
apply for internships in Washington, D.C.
The Tyler resident’s most likely agenda for the summer
was to take a course at the university or work part-time for
a friend.
She was surprised when the gallery called in mid-June and offered
her the internship. “They said they offered the internship
to another student but hadn’t heard from her. They asked
if I could be there on June 26th. My response was like, ‘Yes!’
’’ |
She had two
weeks to prepare for departure, which included making flight arrangements
and finding a place to stay. Through an online roommate locator
service, she made arrangements to reside a couple of blocks from
the Capitol.
|
Giroux
arrived in Washington four days before she was to report to
work. It gave her time to settle in and begin learning her
way around the city. “The Metro, the subway system,
was my nemesis the first week because I kept getting lost,’’
she said with a laugh. “That became my project. I was
going to tackle the Metro – and I did. I was so proud.’’
She worked
seven weeks in the gallery’s Office for the Center for
Electronic Research and Outreach Services, conducting biographical
research, working on the Web site and engaging in other projects
central to the programs of the gallery.
|
Giroux (right)
is visited by a co-worker while working at the National Portrait
Gallery. |
Giroux takes a picture of the Vietnam Wall in
Washington. The stones that make up the monument are so highly
polished that visitors are able to see themselves as part of
the memorial, she said. During her internship at the National
Portrait Gallery, she was given time to tour and engage in her
favorite hobby – photography. |
The
gallery is in the process of being renovated and will not
reopen for another three years, Giroux said. “It was
interesting because I was able to see what it takes to get
a museum up and going. They’re pretty much starting
from scratch.’’
Touring
the city was considered part of her job. “My boss was
really cool and said a huge part of the internship was to
experience the city. So, on Fridays, I only had to work two
hours. It was good to get out and tour.’’
The internship provided knowledge and skills
as well as contact with accomplished professionals. “Just
about everyone at the portrait gallery, including secretaries,
had a background in art history. Some were even former teachers
who work at the gallery now in education or planning,’’
said Giroux, a former teacher and principal.
She recommends internships to other students.
“Internships provide really good, practical experience,’’
said Giroux, who hopes to teach college-level photography
and art history after graduation.
|
Contact
person: Emily Battle,
(903) 565-5604
|
