Cassandra Nelson(Vance, Alabama)
I learned about the internship at Alabama Heritage when I was a first-year master’s student. I had read about internship opportunities for undergraduates on the English department’s website and learned from both AH’s website and my graduate advisor that there were similar such opportunities available for graduate students as well. Since I had just completed a somewhat disappointing first semester of graduate school (due in no way to my professors or classes and entirely to my own unrealistic expectations about grad school and academia) I was curious to see what “real world” applications existed for English majors like myself.
Prior to completing this internship, I had only ever considered careers in either high school or college education and had never really even been taught about what other career opportunities existed. Because my plans regarding a life in academia and education were rapidly changing, I wanted, and needed, to learn firsthand about the career opportunities that the “real world” could offer people with my skillset.
The summer I spent interning at AH was very enjoyable and educational. Everyone that I worked with was extremely friendly and helpful. They were more than happy to work with my schedule so that I didn’t feel overburdened by the work load and still had time to complete school work that I needed to get done or pursue personal interests that I wanted to get done while I was on summer break. As someone who gets nervous at the prospect of facing new situations or interacting with new people, I am extremely grateful for how welcoming and accommodating the staff at AH was. They made it so easy to learn the job, complete the work, and have fun while doing so.
As an AH intern with the English department, I was expected to perform basic editorial and production functions for the magazine. My responsibilities ranged from proofreading to fact checking to editing to writing a short departmental article. Susan was patient and thorough in her explanations of what each responsibility entailed and how the whole behind-the-scenes process of the magazine worked, so I never felt overwhelmed by any of my responsibilities. One of the nicest things about working at AH was that it was never dull. I always had something different to do or read and felt like I was learning new things every day. However, the most rewarding part of the experience for me personally was seeing how useful my unique skill set as an English major could be in a nonacademic setting; it was nice to know that all my hard work for the past five years could actually have some sort of pay off in the end. The experience ultimately allowed me to learn not only that other viable opportunities existed for me outside of academia but also that I rather enjoy that kind of work, which eventually led me to find my current job at Randall-Reilly Publishing.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Besides her new position at Randall-Reilly, Cassandra is also a proofreader for Alabama Heritage.
The summer I spent interning at AH was very enjoyable and educational. Everyone that I worked with was extremely friendly and helpful. They were more than happy to work with my schedule so that I didn’t feel overburdened by the work load and still had time to complete school work that I needed to get done or pursue personal interests that I wanted to get done while I was on summer break. As someone who gets nervous at the prospect of facing new situations or interacting with new people, I am extremely grateful for how welcoming and accommodating the staff at AH was. They made it so easy to learn the job, complete the work, and have fun while doing so.
As an AH intern with the English department, I was expected to perform basic editorial and production functions for the magazine. My responsibilities ranged from proofreading to fact checking to editing to writing a short departmental article. Susan was patient and thorough in her explanations of what each responsibility entailed and how the whole behind-the-scenes process of the magazine worked, so I never felt overwhelmed by any of my responsibilities. One of the nicest things about working at AH was that it was never dull. I always had something different to do or read and felt like I was learning new things every day. However, the most rewarding part of the experience for me personally was seeing how useful my unique skill set as an English major could be in a nonacademic setting; it was nice to know that all my hard work for the past five years could actually have some sort of pay off in the end. The experience ultimately allowed me to learn not only that other viable opportunities existed for me outside of academia but also that I rather enjoy that kind of work, which eventually led me to find my current job at Randall-Reilly Publishing.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Besides her new position at Randall-Reilly, Cassandra is also a proofreader for Alabama Heritage.
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