Intern Diaries: Wade at Gainesville
For some, summertime doesn’t mean downtime. It’s just another opportunity to travel, get an internship or otherwise move up in the world. But since you can’t do it all, INsite tracked down several students in places from Thailand to Miami, New York to Paris. Every week, we share their experiences with you. Last week, you read about Victoria in New York City. This week, we bring you our very own intern Wade.
Most students hope to leave Gainesville for their summer vacation. Really, what’s better than taking advantage of mom’s free home-cooking again? But as the dorms and apartments empty out during the break, some of us decide to stick around.
Of course, there are some perks to spending the summer in Gainesville: less traffic, shorter lines at the bar and internship opportunities. Speaking of which, I’m spending this summer doing something I managed to avoid for most of my undergraduate career: interning.
Surprisingly, though, it hasn’t been so bad. This is my first intern gig, and already I’m a Web Editor for INsite Magazine. Sounds fancy, huh? I think so.
Along with fancy titles comes lots of responsibility, though, and that one web class at UF didn’t entirely prep me for everything I’d encounter here: switching servers, changing blog hosts, re-designing the homepage, creating graphics, editing and re-editing code.
Some of the work has been overwhelming, but I learn as I go. I’ve never been through so many online tutorials in my life. So much so that I see HTML tags whenever I close my eyes now. The work is gratifying, though. I’m constantly making improvements to the website, and I enjoy receiving exclusive content to post before anyone else gets to see it.
I’ve already been to a few staff meetings with the big wigs here. I have to say I was pretty nervous before the first one; I’m still just a rookie. But after sitting with the publisher and editor, I realized they’re normal people (with great senses of humor), just like me. They just happen to run the show.
Aside from watching Steve Carell on TV, this has been my first glimpse at office life—and I can get used to it. (Sure beats the service industry and their stupid uniforms.) I’ve got a personal desk (genius!) and holidays off (hallelujah!). But more than all of the perks, I enjoy the responsibility I have. It makes me feel good about the work I do.
That being said, I’m ready for another day at the office, starting with my delicious iced coffee.
—Wade Powell
Just in case you’ve missed any, here’s the complete series (as of yet):
- Victoria’s NYC internship.
- Gayane rediscovers her hometown.
- Gabriela’s experience with The Miami Herald.
- Jillian’s top 10 list of things to do in Washington, DC.
- Meghan’s adventures in Rome.
- Lane’s account of Paris.
- Allison’s excavation adventures.
- Sarah’s intern experience/self-doubts/panic attacks.
Return to the INsite website here.
