Herald Welcomes Summer Intern

Growing up I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life. To be honest, I still don’t have a full grasp on what it is I want to do. But I know what I like to do. I like to watch sports, analyze those sports; and I like to write.

Growing up in an upper middle class neighborhood in Northern Virginia there is this sort of unspoken “pressure.” Pressure to get good grades, pressure to get into a good college, and pressure to get a high-paying job in the government or in the STEM field. Jobs that are seen as “better.” Once you begin high school, that pressure, which has been instilled into you from a young age, gets overwhelming for most students.

It’s a pressure that, despite support from family, always lingers. It’s the surprised, “Oh, okay,” when I tell someone what my major is. It’s the side-eyes I get when talking to my peers at school. It’s the constant reminder from my dad that there is not a great deal of money to be made in journalism.

As a rising junior at Virginia Tech, a school known for its engineering program, being a liberal arts major definitely comes with its fair share of questions. The question I get most often is “Why?”

Firstly, I fell in love with Blacksburg during my first visit. Besides the college, the area is a lot like the Cove. Both are nestled in the mountains, and surrounded by farmland. Virginia Tech used to be just an agriculture school before expanding later in its existence. However, agriculture and life science continues to be a popular major at the school, with many facilities dedicated to the agriculture school.

Another reason I chose Virginia Tech was the ability to cover D1 athletics, which through my two years at Tech I have tried to take full advantage of. I have covered both the women’s volleyball and lacrosse teams. Tech gave me the unique opportunity to cover these sports as soon as my freshman year started, something that wasn’t offered at other state schools. This has helped me narrow down what I want to do when I graduate.

A lot of my friends at school already know what they want to do, some even have paths set up for when they leave Blacksburg. My academic advisors at school assure me they are outliers and there is no rush to pick a career. I’ve heard the saying “Life isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon” from my advisors and parents too many times to count.

But if that saying is true, why do I feel like I need to constantly sprint? Sprint to create a body of work before I graduate, or sprint through college to get into an industry that is shrinking day by day, while I try to obtain my degree.

My professor told my class during a lecture once that all it took to break into the journalism industry was knowing someone. So, when my dad told me that his long time friend in Pennsylvania ran the Herald while I was looking for internship opportunities, I knew I had to email him to get tips.

Through a bit of networking on my dad’s part, we were put in touch and Mr. Bassler graciously offered me an internship position, which was everything I wanted and more.

My dad grew up in Johnstown, and my Grandma lives in Hollidaysburg now. Even though I am not a local, I feel a strong connection to western Pennsylvania. I want this summer internship to be much more than a resume builder.

I want this to be an adventure, something that not only helps me grow as a writer, but grow as a person. I want to not just know the area but understand the area.

I have lived on my own at school, but this is my first true taste of adulthood. A look into what my future could possibly be. An experience that I could only gain here at the Herald.