Summer Internship

Whitney M.

June 23, 2009 - 4:00 PM

I dropped my dad off at the airport in Sacramento and turned on my GPS-heading straight to the office on June 22, 2009. When I pulled up, I had to figure out parking in my dad's expensive car, but I did so successfully, and found the door to the nice, but small, brick building where my internship would take place. I approached the door and turned the handle to find myself locked out. When I saw the bell, I rang it and immediately, the door buzzed and let me in. The first girl I saw was not as cheerful as I like to see a receptionist (although it is not my career goal, I think I would make a good receptionist). However, when I introduced myself, she recognized me as though she was expecting me and showed me to the boss's assistant, Nellie.

 

Nellie was very forthcoming and kind. She showed me around and made me feel very welcome, and handed me a map with names so that I could remember what we discussed. When I got back to my desk, a cheerful woman started discussing production with me. It is her job to create samples of services we provide clients to present to them before they decide on a final project. I spent the rest of the day physically cutting and pasting high-quality prints of future projects while discussing the design and content with Debbie as we worked. An older man sits in the office with me, and he is the father of one of the business owners, David Townsend. Emery Townsend plays solitaire and occasionally assists with accounting practices, but having him in the office is very nice.

 

I quickly learned how applicable my journalism major is to this kind of work. Producing publications is a large part of political consulting because they produce materials that are sent out to promote our clients. I moved my car about 4 times throughout the day because parking is in 2-hour increments, and I got to walk a few blocks around Sacramento, which is really quite nice so far. I keep realizing that this is like spending two months in Salem-which is not that appealing, but I think that Sacramento is more exciting because it is the capital of one of the largest states in our country, and thus, very influential.

 

This internship will be fantastic for me because I have been worried about the media industries in the current economy and with all of the changing technologies. This work is a staple of society because government, and its officials, needs representation, and that is what we do. Seeing that my degree can apply and serve me well in areas other than newspaper is a great lesson to learn. Not only is this a great opportunity for someone in a journalism field, but it can be extremely profitable if you work hard and are successful-both of which I hope to do.

 

I am also happy to be in such a new and different place. Being here allows me to discover new things about myself as a person and as an employee. Today, I had to wrestle with a printer for about 45 minutes because the paper jammed 3 times. But I was able to figure out all of the inner workings of the appliance and get the job done without quitting or making someone else solve it. I was so proud of myself for being one of those problem-solving employees. That is not to say that I didn't have any help, but the major breakthroughs came from my diligence, which was a huge self-efficacy builder.

 

I think that the biggest challenge for me is going to be not taking things personally. Mr. Townsend is not very warm and fuzzy, and he didn't laugh at my jokes-which I find distressing because my sense of humor was something I was counting on as far as getting comfortable in the office. But I don't think that Mr. Townsend has anything against me. I just think he has a different sense of humor-or different personality, which is okay. I will need to know how to operate with people who are different from me, so I am sure that the experience will be good for me.

 

Another challenge is that I am off to somewhat of a slow start. I have done a couple of tasks, but overall, the work is kind of slow. But I better bite my tongue because soon enough I am going to have more work than I know what to do with. The good news, though, is that the work is not rocket science, and I am becoming more sure that I will be able to complete the work before me.

 

The orientation that I received upon arrival has been magnificent. The people have been very welcoming, accommodating, helpful, and fun. I learned quickly when I was given instructions, and I think that my supervisors appreciated that. I feel confident at the office, and I know that I have resources if I don't understand something. I can tell that working for Townsend, Raimundo, Besler & Usher will not only be educational, but a window into the benefits of working for a well-organized company.

 

 

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End of 2008-2009 School Year

Whitney M.

June 17, 2009 - 10:55 AM

Well that's done.

 

What a quick year. As I was packing my apartment to leave it for good, I looked around and thought, "I don't know if I am done living here." My room felt like home, and I loved my roommates. But it was time to go. So I got all of the things packed into the bed of my dad's truck and left.

 

Junior year has ended. Now I am going to be a senior; it's so strange.

 

I was driving around my childhood neighborhood in NE Portland yesterday running errands, and I saw a beautiful blonde girl on an old-fashioned pink bike. She must have been a sophomore or junior in high school. I looked at her face, and I recalled all of the urgency that whirled around my head when I was in high school. I felt like there would never be another time in my life than the one I was in. Everything was ultimately important, and so many things were going on around me that I couldn't focus on anything.

 

I don't feel that way anymore, which is good. I have a greater understanding of time and how it inevitably changes everything. I have learned to push the social forces around me out of my life for an evening so that I can get my work done.

 

And although I much prefer the mindset of my senior-in-college self, I couldn't help but feel nostalgic and a little sad that adolescence is behind me.

 

I wondered if I got everything out of my teen year that I wanted to, and recalled going to rehab as a junior in high school. Although my life took some unfortunate turns, I did all the things that teenagers do. I got a piercing, I tried drugs, I had sex, I got bad grades, and I pulled a ton of stupid stunts. And despite the fact that I took all of these typical teen experiences a bit too far, I am glad that I got the chance to experience things. Fortunately and miraculously, my life has turned around.

 

So here I am-in this new time of my life, which I understand will pass more quickly than I want it to. But I am looking forward to the times to come. Although the job market is hell, I am enjoying doing everything I can to prepare for that market. And fortunately, I am planning on enjoying a wonderful, happy, long marriage with my best friend.

 

And that will all come soon enough.

 

 

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Last Blog of the Year!

Whitney M.

June 7, 2009 - 9:46 PM

HOORAY!! I am done with my junior year of college! All of my final papers have been completed, with the exception of one that I sent away for editing on a second draft. This term was a wonderfully educational experience. My women's history class was great because it taught me about the goings on of the 20th century through a perspective that meant something to me. Media economics gave me an opportunity to build my confidence in a subject that I usually do not consider myself competent in. I found that the material that we covered was easy to understand, and because I got it, I took a liking to the subject. Writing the final papers was actually really fun because it gave me an opportunity to see and demonstrate all of the things I learned this term. It was great because I took classes that genuinely interested me.

 

However, while I enjoyed academic pursuits, my friend's sister Jesse spent the final weekend of her junior year wreaking havoc on the car of one of the snottiest seniors that ever attended Newport High School.

 

When the seniors congregated for a locked-down senior night at the high school, Jesse and her friends decided that it was the perfect opportunity to spite the snot!

 

She and her friends bought 300 yards of saran wrap, put up their hoods, and dodged the security cameras while they covered the snot's small truck with plastic, bark dust, coffee cups, and even a shovel which they adhered with the strength of the cellophane.

 

By the wee hours of the morning, the girl had been alerted to the offense and threatened to call the cops. Because Jesse's curfew had passed, a friend of hers went to clean up the mess. Although the prank was ultimately unrewarding, the experience must have been. I am sure that when Jesse looks back at her high school years, she will remember things like cellophane pranks. It was so fun to hear Jesse tell the story of such antics.

 

I was happy to see her enjoying her youth in a way that only high school kids really can. Once we get to college, people find ways to get drunk, get laid and skim the surface of their course material, losing the ability to find the fun in harmless retaliatory shenanigans.

 

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Oh yeah! It's Time to Talk about Sex Again

Whitney M.

June 7, 2009 - 9:02 PM

Well! Thank goodness I have found the love of my life and do not have to worry about the dating arena, which inevitably includes the sex arena. Many people choose not to have sex, which is respectable, but for those who are comfortable exploring sex, spring term has been a time rife with opportunities to test the waters.

 

One of my close friends comes to me about every other week with a new notch in her lipstick case, which I completely support as long as she still feels good about herself. But part of me thinks that she doesn't really feel good when it comes down to the truth. Although she never discusses it, her weight seems to be quite a concern, if not for her psyche, then for her health. But she never says a word regarding her weight, and on the off chance that she does, she says that she is "just a bigger girl." However, it has been my experience as a bigger girl that no one really reconciles the fact that they are overweight. When I think about being a bigger girl, I remember how willing I was to go the distance just to secure the attention of a guy for 10 minutes (or less).

 

Now, my other friend has had an entirely different experience. She is gorgeous, smart, ambitious, extremely fun, and extraordinarily kind. She is a great girl and would be a phenomenal catch for the right guy. But lately she has been exploring her sexual inclinations in less constrained ways than she has ever done before. She just left her boyfriend of 4 years, with whom she had monogamous sex, but now that she is single, she has been enjoying the pleasures that coincide.

 

The other night, she met up with a guy who she had been seeing a few weeks ago-but it didn't work out at the time. On Friday night, my friend and her date went dancing. Because of her vibrant personality and talent, she is a great dancer and has the time of her life every time she gets on a dance floor. As a matter of fact, she creates a dance floor wherever she goes-I've seen it!

 

Needless to say, the night progressed and my friend found herself back in her date's apartment. Throughout the night, she found herself shocked by the maneuvers her date was pulling. She had never seen, and I had never heard of, such disgraceful bedroom manners. It was like the poor, pathetic, and probably inexperienced boy picked up all of his tricks from what he could download for free on the internet. I would only write about this if it was important.

 

It seemed to me that this boy, not a man, was so insecure about himself that he used the most controlling, domineering, and cliché sexual acts he could muster that he gave males a bad name. It disgusts me that men who belittle women get away with such things. It is really too bad. There are so many men out there who treat women well. Sometimes they have good personalities and are not as dashingly handsome as other men, but I have found that many men who consider themselves gorgeous also consider themselves entitled to whatever behavior they wish to engage in at any given moment.

 

Luckily, my friend was able to come to terms with the fact that she went home with the wrong kind of guy. She does not regret the choice to have sex, only the choice to have sex with that loser. Because she is so level-headed, she is determined to use this experience as an opportunity to take a different kind of guy to the pillow-top next time she gets the chance-which may be very soon!

 

 

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