Living the Dream

Forbes Internship Week 1

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” A question we’re all plagued with growing up, and even more so in the moments leading up to college when our careers could not be more ambiguous or confounded.

Professional dancer? Fashion designer? Nurse? Psychologist? English teacher? I struggled to find the balance between jobs with stable markets but with sufficient interest to me. I liked literature; I found solace in writing; I got A’s in humanities classes — but an English degree seemed like the least practical thing I could get for a $200,000 piece of paper.

However, what I noticed is that in skirting around careers, squeezing to fit into cumbersome fields where I did not belong — what mattered was not how welcoming lucrative job markets would be to me — but how much I could push myself into those markets. I have to be the one to create the demand for my work.

I realized that all I ever really wanted to do was write — articles, novels, stories. Unfortunately, print books are practically archaic; journalism is a notoriously dying field — with the Internet, everyone can be a “writer.” As a professional writer, what I’d essentially be selling is not my words, but my thoughts — a daunting prospect that actually enticed me more to the lucrative field. To be respected and known for my ideas, to move and inspire others with my words, is truly the pinnacle of success for me.

My aspirations finally seemed to get my foot in the door, as I was fortunate enough to receive an editorial internship at Forbes magazine this summer. The reality of this has not fully hit me yet — summertime in New York City, surrounded by other young ambitious professionals, being paid to do what I absolutely love and being guided by esteemed experts in my field — this is the life I’ve always dreamed about. I just completed my first week, and I already know that this experience will only make me more passionate about my field.

Walking into the glass high-rise my first day, I was terribly nervous: I was underprepared, unqualified, inadequate — I was surrounded other interns with prior news experience, graduate degrees, Ivy League educations and I could never work to their standard.

My first day could not have proven my notions more wrong. The office culture breeds a “grace under pressure” atmosphere, where we learn to handle the rush of production with cool composure. The newsroom is where I feel most comfortable — where I thrive — surrounded by buzzing news, at the center of the media capital of the world, informed and educated before the rest of the world.

Bring on the rest of the summer.