Internship Final Reflection

I had many goals to fulfill while interning New Youth Connections which were:
(1) To improve my writing skills
(2) Improve my networking skills
(3) Gain skills that will help me for the SAT and ELA exams
(4) To write many stories and have them published
(5) To have a great internship experience- meet people and learn
(6) To accomplish all the goals above and to be successful

Proudly I achieved these goals. It took persistence, patience, dedication, time, mountain of effort and positive attitude to achieve my goals.
To improve my writing I wrote stories-- six to be exact. I wrote from five to eight drafts for each story in order to polish and ready them for publishing. I received a ton of feedback from my editor. She taught me ways to improve my writing because every time I submitted one draft she edited for me. I observed the corrections she had made and learned from my mistakes. Also she asked me things that the story was missing such as: feelings, more details about the theme or plot.
In the process of these editing sessions, I understood what a story needs to have to be well written.
I improved my networking skills while participating in staff meetings, interviews and trips. My mentor played a big role in improving my networking skills because her support and lessons made me feel more confident. As a result, I have contacts from my internship.
In the process of writing stories I gained skills that will help me with the SAT and ELA exams because I did research, gave feedback to other writers in their stories; I was an active reader, which means that I was writing down questions and taking notes and I also paid attention to who said this and that, what was the focus, theme, plot and how it was written.
Having a positive attitude was one of the was one of the reasons I had a great internship experience because everyday I was ready to work and learn and I tried to find the positive side of the things.
I was very lucky to be part of the staff at New Youth Connections because they were all great. They were very nice people who enjoy their job. The office atmosphere was quiet but sometimes we ha so much fun together-- I don't remember having a day without laughing.

In few words, in the last 12-weeks I learned how to be a journalist. I explored this whole field in communications and learned how to do interviews, do research,edit and most important how to write news articles and stories. In addition, I learn that it is important to pursue the career you want to enjoy your job like the adults at New Youth Communications. And most important, I realized that hard work always pays off.

My internship made me become more mature and responsible by feeling how the rel world is and having responsibilities. I learned how to be part of a team and get along with my co-workers. I understood that when you have a job you are compromised to do your job well because you have to be a contribution to the company.

I overcame my challenges with my mentor's help. Every time I did not know what to do or I didn't understand, first, I tried to figure it out by myself and then I asked her for help. My challenges were to figure out what to write about, to write the reported story "Dignity and Respect" and the articles "Hands Off Our Metrocards" and "A Dysfunctional Love Story."

If you are thinking to Intern at New Youth Connections, take the following advices:

(1) Don't fool around! Do your job and spend your time wisely because your time
there is valuable

(2) Be Curious! ask questions when you don't understand or when you want to know more
about something

(3) Have a positive attitude to enjoy your time there and contribute to the company

(4) Express yourself! Share your stories through writing them

Sadly, my internship is over and I'll miss it so much. First of all, I'll miss my mentor because we had a great relationship and I was used to see her every week. I'll miss my co-workers because I learned from them and we shared thoughts. I will miss doing my job as a journalist (interviews, write stories). Also I'll miss participating in staff meetings and talking to the adults at my site.
Even though I'll miss my internship, I'll keep in touch with my mentor and I will write to her whenever I can. This means that the last day of my internship was not the last for me to be part of New Youth Connections because my mentor left the door open for me.