Second Internship in Review

Yesterday was my last day at Deseret Book. It was really hard to leave!

To correctly review this internship I have to go back to the last day of my internship at the Church magazines. That was the day I went to take the in-house editing test at Deseret Book. I was pretty nervous about this because I had never taken an editing test like this before and I really wanted this internship.

In the middle of the test I just got this feeling; God knew what I needed, and I needed to trust in that. After that I felt calm.

I heard back from them about two weeks later, and set up an interview for the next week. Walking into the interview, I was still nervous, but I felt like this was where I needed to be. Sitting with Suzanne and Lisa, it wasn't so much like an interview as a conversation. Yes, they asked me the usual interview questions, but I didn't feel like I was floundering for answers or to get my meaning across. I didn't feel as if they were really judging me, like you feel in some interviews. I left wanting the internship even more.

I got called back later that same day and was told that I was one of three people chosen for the internship! And I would start the next day!

There never was the same anxiety that I felt at the start of my first internship (I think part of that was because there just simply wasn't the time to get myself worked up, but mostly I just really wanted to be there).

This internship was so great because I was actually doing what I want to do as my career--working on books! I worked on fiction, nonfiction, reference, cookbooks, and even a songbook. I think they said that I worked on 42 projects in some form or another. In 16 weeks. Some of that was just prepress checks, or bluelines, or corrections checks which don't take that long. But I also did proofreads, pre-edits, and source checking which take a lot longer. I got to read some really great stuff (and some not so great . . . ).

It's good to know that the profession I chose for myself at 16 is what I actually enjoy doing. I loved my work these past few months. I loved the pace of it all, and I loved seeing the projects change and grow. And I really learned a lot, even from just seeing how other proofreader's marked a manuscript. I became a little more confident in my editing.

Now, on to another internship in a week. (I think I'm just going to be a professional intern.)