El Fin

As my internship comes to an end today, I want to reflect over the past 4.5 months and share what I have learned about writing, editing, interviewing, and photography.

1. Get a Bluetooth headset with your phone, or a landline phone that has amazing an speakerphone. Holding a phone between your ear and your shoulder during phone interviews causes extreme pain and several colonies of knots in your upper back.

2. Always make contact with the person you have to interview right away. If you procrastinate, come deadline the person you need to interview can't be reached, causing you to beg your editor for an extension and looking a little less capable of getting things done.

3. Always carry extra batteries for your tape recorder. The human mind is not capable of remembering everything verbatim.

4. Always carry a notepad and pen in case of number 3.

5. Always charged your camera battery before going on a photoshoot. It's better to have 20 photos to choose from that just 1 bad photo.

6. Never schedule an outdoor photoshoot in the middle of the day during the nicest day of the hottest month of the year. Not good for all parties involved.

7. Always scope out the location of an interview or photoshoot the day before you have to be there. And invest in a GPS navigator in case you forget to scope. And learn all functions of that GPS. And make sure it's fully charged.

8. Always have questions prepared on paper, but be prepared to not follow them at all. Follow the conversation.

9. Detag incriminating photos of you on Facebook BEFORE your editor friends you.

10. Always ask your editor questions about an assignment before, during, and after its completion. Always know what your editor wants and give it to him or her.

11. Get up early, attach a coffee IV to your arm, and get your work DONE during the day. Nothing feels worse than an all-nighter post-college.

12. Postpone all self-indulgent actvities until after all assignments are finished to avoid scrambling the night before your deadline.

13. Be happy when meeting interviewees and photo subjects. If you're not happy, fake it.

14. Always wear a bathing suit to photoshoots at the river. Trust me. You'll get wet.