As a Senior Multimedia Journalism major, I have had the opportunity to experience all of the areas that the world of communications has to offer. I went into college with a very specific vision of what my future career would look like and three and a half years later I am about to leave without a clue as to what I want to do because I have enjoyed every aspect more than I ever expected.
During an internship with the Jefferson City Renegades in 2020, I was introduced to the Jefferson City Magazine. I wanted an internship that was local and allowed me one last summer home, while also helping me narrow down my career choices by giving me real-world experience in multiple areas, so, I applied to the magazine.
The magazine is an internship that has given me a glimpse into every aspect that goes into creating a print product, and at the time of application, I didn’t know that interning for the magazine would also allow me to work on the marketing side of things with Dogwood Social, giving me an even broader area of communications to explore.
The photo shoots for the magazine were by far my favorite experiences. Both the food shoot and the Ones To Watch photoshoot gave me a look into all the work that goes on behind the scenes. The Ones To Watch was my favorite of the two. Being able to interact with so many different people in one place was a fun and unique experience, though the food shoot also had its pros, namely getting to eat the food afterward.
I also worked with creating video content. My favorite project was creating a video for the Special Learning Center (SLC). The SLC video was a favorite because of the chance to visit the school, see the kids, and see what type of work they are doing for so many kids and families.
For Dogwood Social I worked quite a bit with social media and design. Graphic design has never been a focus of mine or a strong suit, but I enjoyed being able to learn from the different projects and get a little creative. Scheduling social media posts and creating reels also gave me experience in a field I didn’t have much practice with but led to some fun behind-the-scenes reels and experiences.
These are only a few of the many opportunities that I was able to enjoy and learn from this summer and I learned from each. The biggest thing I learned though, is the importance of networking. Networking is something constantly talked about in school but I never realized just how important it was until sitting in on a meeting and hearing the number of names that could be contacted for a single article that at least one person on staff had some connection to. Getting to interact with local businesses and create content for them has been an awesome experience.
I worked in so many different areas this summer during my internship with the magazine and with Dogwood Social. While it didn’t narrow down what I want to do after graduation, it confirmed that I do, in fact, love every area of communications. I loved my time with the Jefferson City Magazine and am excited to see how my time with them will contribute to my future career, whatever it may be.
