On July 2, I returned home from a spectacular European cruise to find internship paperwork waiting patiently in my email inbox. It reminded me not only of my hard-earned accomplishment, but of the crucial work still to come at the Albany-Democrat Herald.
A nervous anticipation began to settle on my shoulders. I knew this news reporting position represented everything I had looked for in a summer internship and willed myself to regain the confidence that landed me the job.
But on July 6, as I walked into a newsroom full of curious eyes, ringing phones and stacks of papers, I felt all-too aware of my lack of professional experience.
My editor showed me to my desk, where I shyly greeted everyone and listened carefully to a tutorial on how to work Blox, the Democrat-Herald’s digital (and notoriously fussy) story publishing tool.
That was my only day of learning. The next, I was thrown right into the deep end. My first assignment: a downtown Albany bargain clothing event. Along with interviewing, I was tasked with taking and captioning photos to run with the story.
I attended the event at 2 p.m. My editor gave me until 5 p.m. to turn it in. After rushing back to the newsroom at 3 p.m. with intense panic burning in my chest, I focused on making sense of my scribbled notes. Shortly into writing, autopilot switched on, fueled by years of practice in rigorous reporting classes. An hour and a half later, my first story was in.
The next day, my pictures and text made the cover page. I flared up with pride as I looked down at my byline, bolded under the centerpiece story.
The coming weeks would bring a whirlwind of interviews, on-scene reporting and countless clips. I commuted daily between Portland and Albany. In the newsroom, I wrote off-beat, covering everything, which meant each day brought something new. That sort of unknown thrilled me because it meant I could step into many different worlds and learn from a place of humility.
From fairs to nonprofits to park commemorations, I covered it all. I wrote about art break days, biopharma facilities, a hobby shop that closed after a 50-year run and more. My pieces consistently made the front page of the paper, which drove me to say yes to every assignment offered to me.
"Be tenacious,” a former Clark Honors College mentor advised last spring. And I was diligent in following that advice. At one point, I handled 10 story ideas at once. I even covered the crime beat for a few days — an incredibly stressful and fast-paced experience, but a valuable one all the same.
One of my favorite parts about my internship was building a culture of camaraderie with the other reporters. In the newsroom, I felt supported, inspired and challenged to write with excellence. Often, I worked on stories in tandem with the other intern, a talented photojournalist who made every assignment an adventure.
While most stories were passed along by my editor, coworkers or news tips, I also wanted to find ones of my own. One week, through a little digging and Facebook group posts, I pitched a mobile veterans trailer piece to my editor. I traveled to the scene that same day, and after several powerful conversations with Vietnam veterans and the event coordinators, I produced a story that I still proudly point to in my portfolio.
I was surprised to find I encountered writer's block on a regular basis. Whenever I felt stuck, I revisited my notes or started writing from a point in the story other than the beginning. Sometimes, I changed the angle entirely and found a breakthrough there.
With writer's block came mental burnout. I repeatedly questioned if this was the right career path for me. Still, the heartfelt thank-you emails, comments from story subjects and ever-growing portfolio made it all worth it.
To close my internship, I was tasked with identifying a local topic of significance, such as housing in Linn County, and covering it in detail. I chose to write about the rapidly expanding population in the small industrial town of Millersburg. It was my longest story yet, and I poured hours of time into it. Still, it proved a rewarding endeavor as it showcased my knack for connecting with sources and painting the bigger picture.
All in all, the imprint Albany left on me went far beyond written communication skills. The empathy, resourcefulness, networking and self-advocacy qualities I also gained will continue to be formative to my career pursuits. I can’t wait to see where my passion for reporting takes me next.
—By Kayla Nguyen, class of ’23
Kayla Nguyen, class of ’23, is a fourth-year journalism major and art minor working as a writing intern with the SOJC Communication Team.
This blog post is part two in a three-part series reflecting on Nguyen’s summer news reporting internship with the Albany-Democrat Herald. The following posts, How to land a summer internship when all seems lost, and What now? My biggest takeaways as a summer intern, chronicle her full experience.