LF_082219

14 | August 22, 2019 | The lake forest leader SOUND OFF
LakeForestLeader.com
From the Editorial Intern
Closing time
65TH ANNUAL 2019
Eli Fraerman
Editorial Intern
I got out into the communities of
Highland Park and Lake Forest
and interviewed its citizens, reporting
on real stories with real
people who had a story to tell.
-Eli Fraerman
join us labor day weekend!
annual juried fine art show
sunday -monday september 1-2
10 a.m. -5p.m.
Market Square Lake Forest, Illinois deerpathartleague.org
FREE Admission Open to the Public
Artwork: Josh Merrill
They say the best
way to get experience
in a field
is to get an internship.
However, many internships
require experience
in order to land them. For
many college students
including myself, this can
become a frustrating conundrum
when it comes
to applying for summer
internships.
Lacking much journalism
experience outside of
the newsroom at Lehigh
University, I struck out on
a lot of “bigger” opportunities
I was hopeful to
receive after my sophomore
year in college. I
did however receive an
opportunity here at 22nd
Century Media, an opportunity
to come home
to Highland Park for the
summer and gain valuable
internship experience.
I was unsure what I
was going to accomplish
this summer. I knew I
had the skills to jump out
into the field, but I wasn’t
sure my abilities would
be tested. The internship
wasn’t full-time, so I really
didn’t know if I would
gain valuable experiences
or just sit around doing
the work the full-time
editors didn’t want to do.
I am elated to say
that this internship far
exceeded my expectations.
I got out into the
communities of Highland
Park and Lake Forest and
interviewed its citizens,
reporting on real stories
with real people who had
a story to tell. For the last
three months, I believe
I have told those stories
and while not everything
I did may have seemed
super important-hyperlocal
stories aren’t always
the craziest news- I
believe that each story I
wrote furthered me as a
journalist.
I am confident that I
will go back to school
this semester with a better
preparedness as a writer,
an interviewer and with
an enhanced ability to
tell people’s stories. I
even gained immediate
connections through this
internship. The first story
I was assigned, a Lake
Bluff resident who wrote
a book on the Chicago
Bears 2018 season, turned
into an extra opportunity
for me this summer
exploring some of the
radio and audio side of
journalism.
While I wasn’t too
excited to feel like I was
stuck at home for the
summer after my sophomore
year of college, I
know that I have walked
away with a far greater
understanding of the
journalism world and
furthered my abilities.
I want to thank my
Highland Park editor Erin
Yarnall for guiding me
through this summer and
recognizing that my abilities
could and should be
put to the test out in the
field. I am also thankful
to Alyssa Groh for serving
a similar role during
her time as the Lake Forest
editor before moving
on from 22nd Century
Media. Without them, I
wouldn’t be able to say I
gained as much from this
summer as I did.
I have ambition to
move forward with my
journalism career and I
now know that I have the
experiences to match my
abilities. No longer will
the problem of not having
valuable experiences be
an issue for me. Unlike
some kids my age who
get “internships” that
only consist of getting
coffee and doing mindless
work, I know that I
actually got something
out of my summer. For
whatever my future holds,
I will forever be thankful
to 22nd Century Media
for helping jump start my
career.