Field Period...
Well, vacation's pretty much over for all of us here in Amsterdam. Heather's back at school, FMCC and SCC will be starting up, and I'm at work. Yes, that's right, I said WORK. ME. An oxymoron and a half. But vacation was fun while it lasted. Just read Heather's lj if you wanna know all the main things that I did lol.
Now about this Field Period thing. I've been interning for the month of January at the Amsterdam Recorder. It's been hell so far, not gonna lie. Always this feeling of being completely overwhelmed, and never any time to do much of anything else besides feel overwhelmed. They started me off sending me out with other reporters on interviews and to meetings to see what it's all about. Sarah's new, so she mostly handles smaller stories. My first trip out in "the field" was actually with her. We got to talk about the life of a reporter, and she's very nice. The story was absolutely ridiculous, though. Some cat was caught in a tree for three days, his tail tied (literally) around a branch, and the SPCA was rescuing him and called the Recorder for publicity. Sarah says they're always trying to get publicity so she didn't think it would be put in the paper. And it wasn't. Then I went around the entire county, using up gas money (and not getting paid a cent, mind you), following the most experienced reporter, Linda. At a first glance she just looks like my great aunt and there's no way I could have anything in common with her, but she treated me out to lunch in Fonda one day and talked a lot about her son in high school and daughter in college, and we actually got along really well. I've mostly been spending my days accompanying her, and she's helped me out a lot. Any question I have, I'm never afraid to ask Linda, and she's never too busy to answer it. I'm always thanking her. Anyway, I got to watch her interview a retired NYS Supreme Court Judicial Officer (his house was really nice, but SOOO hard to find... "Mom... AhaWAAAAAAAAA I'M LOST IN GLOVERSVILLE!!!), and then Judge Aulisi, who replaced him. Aulisi offered me candy. I must look like a kid walking around with Linda... I took the candy.
It seems three to four nights a week now I'm also shadowing the reporters at meetings... ALL OVER THE PLANET. I don't understand a word they're saying at these meetings, and sometimes I just wish I was smarter. I once wrote in my Field Period journal for school: "And then with reluctance, I came home to write a whole new language - one that sounds like Greek and only looks like English." There's no question as to why my boss, Mr. Geoff Dylong, hasn't used my meeting write-ups yet. Lol.
However, recently I've been given my own stories to work on. The major one won't be published until the March issue of The Outlook, about 100 year-old businesses in the area. It's a project I've picked up from the previous intern, Maggie McGuire. I have three interviews in the next 2 days, and so far I've interviewed the Sanford Home for Elderly Women. The administrator, Jeanne Christman, was very informative and enthusiastic, I REALLY appreciated it. Actually, she gave me a tour of the place, so I could meet the residents. They were having a Beach Party that day, sand and all, and the 95 year-old, when asked how she liked her hamburger, replied, "Good," and how she liked her beer, replied... "Better." Lol! These women cracked me the frig up! I sorta forgot I was writing a story on the place and started actually thinking of sending my mother here someday!!! A really great place. (Hushhhh, it's not advertised for that reason, so keep it on the low... you NEVER heard it from me...)
Other projects include an update on new programs at the YMCA and information on the flu and vaccinations in Amsterdam - those two will be my first stories to appear in the newspaper, probably sometime at the end of this week, but if not, then definitely next week - a new business that opened called U.S. Hair, the Canajoharie High School Chamber Choir going to sing at Prague, Czech Republic this summer (which I think is extraordinarily interesting, coming from AHS Select Choir!!), and then these two books on WWII by two local authors (the books are supposedly strikingly similar, although I haven't touched either yet.)
So... as you can see, I've been quite busy!!! But I'm really glad I read Maggie McGuire's final paper. In it she said the best advice she had for future interns was to make friends with the other reporters. That's why I accepted Linda's offer to "luncheon" - sorry, I've always wanted to use that word! I really think I'm doing okay so far. Is reporting for me? Probably not lol. But it's something that'll look damn good on the resume!!!!
And now, of course, I gotta go to a meeting. Town Hall tonight. I should take Linda's suggestion and get a tape recorder.
Now about this Field Period thing. I've been interning for the month of January at the Amsterdam Recorder. It's been hell so far, not gonna lie. Always this feeling of being completely overwhelmed, and never any time to do much of anything else besides feel overwhelmed. They started me off sending me out with other reporters on interviews and to meetings to see what it's all about. Sarah's new, so she mostly handles smaller stories. My first trip out in "the field" was actually with her. We got to talk about the life of a reporter, and she's very nice. The story was absolutely ridiculous, though. Some cat was caught in a tree for three days, his tail tied (literally) around a branch, and the SPCA was rescuing him and called the Recorder for publicity. Sarah says they're always trying to get publicity so she didn't think it would be put in the paper. And it wasn't. Then I went around the entire county, using up gas money (and not getting paid a cent, mind you), following the most experienced reporter, Linda. At a first glance she just looks like my great aunt and there's no way I could have anything in common with her, but she treated me out to lunch in Fonda one day and talked a lot about her son in high school and daughter in college, and we actually got along really well. I've mostly been spending my days accompanying her, and she's helped me out a lot. Any question I have, I'm never afraid to ask Linda, and she's never too busy to answer it. I'm always thanking her. Anyway, I got to watch her interview a retired NYS Supreme Court Judicial Officer (his house was really nice, but SOOO hard to find... "Mom... AhaWAAAAAAAAA I'M LOST IN GLOVERSVILLE!!!), and then Judge Aulisi, who replaced him. Aulisi offered me candy. I must look like a kid walking around with Linda... I took the candy.
It seems three to four nights a week now I'm also shadowing the reporters at meetings... ALL OVER THE PLANET. I don't understand a word they're saying at these meetings, and sometimes I just wish I was smarter. I once wrote in my Field Period journal for school: "And then with reluctance, I came home to write a whole new language - one that sounds like Greek and only looks like English." There's no question as to why my boss, Mr. Geoff Dylong, hasn't used my meeting write-ups yet. Lol.
However, recently I've been given my own stories to work on. The major one won't be published until the March issue of The Outlook, about 100 year-old businesses in the area. It's a project I've picked up from the previous intern, Maggie McGuire. I have three interviews in the next 2 days, and so far I've interviewed the Sanford Home for Elderly Women. The administrator, Jeanne Christman, was very informative and enthusiastic, I REALLY appreciated it. Actually, she gave me a tour of the place, so I could meet the residents. They were having a Beach Party that day, sand and all, and the 95 year-old, when asked how she liked her hamburger, replied, "Good," and how she liked her beer, replied... "Better." Lol! These women cracked me the frig up! I sorta forgot I was writing a story on the place and started actually thinking of sending my mother here someday!!! A really great place. (Hushhhh, it's not advertised for that reason, so keep it on the low... you NEVER heard it from me...)
Other projects include an update on new programs at the YMCA and information on the flu and vaccinations in Amsterdam - those two will be my first stories to appear in the newspaper, probably sometime at the end of this week, but if not, then definitely next week - a new business that opened called U.S. Hair, the Canajoharie High School Chamber Choir going to sing at Prague, Czech Republic this summer (which I think is extraordinarily interesting, coming from AHS Select Choir!!), and then these two books on WWII by two local authors (the books are supposedly strikingly similar, although I haven't touched either yet.)
So... as you can see, I've been quite busy!!! But I'm really glad I read Maggie McGuire's final paper. In it she said the best advice she had for future interns was to make friends with the other reporters. That's why I accepted Linda's offer to "luncheon" - sorry, I've always wanted to use that word! I really think I'm doing okay so far. Is reporting for me? Probably not lol. But it's something that'll look damn good on the resume!!!!
And now, of course, I gotta go to a meeting. Town Hall tonight. I should take Linda's suggestion and get a tape recorder.