From the Intern Closet

Mission survive day one: accomplished! After adjusting my mascara and lipgloss for the fiftieth time, I decided I was ready to meet my new boss. As I stepped off the lightning-speed elevator, I was dazzled by the sleek, boldly colored furniture and the chic editors that I could hear miles away from their patent-leather pumps on the glass floors. My editor gave me the lay of the land: the bathrooms, coffee machine (it actually made a decent cup), copier, and freebie desk. Oh, and my workspace that I would share with the two other web interns, which was the size of a large walk-in closet. It had three computers just inches apart on one long countertop (two Macs, one PC – I, the Mac Girl, of course got assigned to the PC).

“Hope you like Thai food,” my editor chirped, and we left for lunch with rest of the Web staff. But instead of Thai, we went to a cute little American bistro. Upon our return, I got assigned some odds-and-ends jobs: making an inventory of model’s outfits, sending out freebie CDs, and blogging about how certain celebs’ looks have changed over the years. While I’m sure I’ll learn a ton this summer and it will be a great resume-booster – after all, Web is the future of journalism – it’s a very different experience than previous internship. Last summer, I worked for a parenting magazine where I was the only intern. But not gonna lie, I was pretty spoiled there – not only was I paid $12 per hour, but my editor regularly treated me to lunch, coffee, or Pinkberry. I had my own spacious cubicle, and I was given tons of big interviews and clips in the mag. But it’s good to have a wide range of experiences, since you never know where you’ll end up in the long run.

This past weekend, I decided I’d start babysitting again as a way to rake in a little moolah. I’ll be going abroad in the fall, so I need to make some kind of income this summer. I usually have a rule that I don’t babysit kids under the age of 3, simply because I can’t deal with the poopy diapers and gobblygook language (please don’t think I’m heartless). But I was asked to look after a 15-month old on Sunday, and it was for a friend-of-a-friend, so I grudgingly accepted. It didn’t turn out so hot: I couldn’t get the little tike out of the old, rusty highchair, and my own mother had to drive over to help me. She spit her applesauce onto my new shirt, and I sat with her for three hours watching Curious George before she dozed off. What an unpaid intern will do for a few extra bucks.

However, one good thing did come out of my babysitting experience. The mom knew someone who worked in the fashion department of the mag I’m interning for. A connection! I think I’ll send her an email today and hopefully meet up for lunch soon. It’s been pounded into our heads over and over: network, network, network. It’s not only what you know, it’s who you know.

On another note, I’m going to try to scope out some the NYC nightlife this week. I’ll report back with my findings. Check out this link to some hot spots here. Oh, and by the way – if there’s anything I’m not covering in this blog that you’d like to see, puh-lease leave me a comment to let me know!

xoxo,

cyber intern