Saying “Thanks”

Thank-you’s.

They’re on my to-do list, somewhere after this blog post and before a paper outline and rehearsing a presentation. (Okay, so maybe I’m procrastinating just a bit…)

Small little phrases, jotted on small little cards with cheesy illustrations on the cover. (Almost sounds like a haiku, doesn’t it?)

I grabbed literally the last two from the Huntley earlier today (well, the last two besides some that although labeled “Thank you,” said something about sexiness on the cover… I figured those weren’t very appropriate) and unfortunately really did not have much selection as far as cheesy covers go.

Even if the cover does happen to be a pale orange with pink flowers all over it, one thing I have learned this semester is that thank you cards and letters do matter when it comes to careers, internships, and generally being a polite person. The idea was thoroughly discussed at the Employer Panel I attended during Life After Scripps week; it came to mind shortly after I submitted my application for an internship a couple of weeks ago; and I was reminded of them most recently when submitting my study abroad application. (There was a giant sign in the Off-Campus Office reminding students that “it’s a good idea” to write thank you’s.)

Of course, writing a thank you to a faculty member I know fairly well versus a thank you to an interviewer for a competitive internship are quite different tasks. Luckily for me, I have the easier of the two tonight: the cards I’m writing are to faculty/staff who wrote recommendations for me for both study abroad and the internship application; if I get an interview, obviously I will have to write more, and those ones will have to much more formal.

My friends and I were actually discussing thank you cards today at lunch, because of course they have also thought of the fact they should thank faculty for writing study abroad recommendations for them.

“What should I even write in it?” asked one friend.

Keep it simple, we all decided. Get too long, it may be creepy, we all thought: staying concise will get the message across yet also keep it professional.

My mother ingrained a sense of writing of thank you cards in me since I was little, so the action is not too forced. Seeing as I do appreciate the time these people spent helping me out, it doesn’t hurt to actually express that to them. Not only that, but it may help me in a long run in case I have to get a recommendation from these same people later during my college career.

Also, check out Career Planning & Resources’ lovely page online that explains how to write more formal thank you letters to interviewees.

Navigating the Awkwardness

About a week ago, I got a surprise in my inbox. A woman in publishing who I had emailed a long time ago asking for an informational interview, after being recommended to contact her through an earlier blog post, actually responded, agreeing to answer any of my questions.

I do not mean to put her down for taking awhile to respond. In fact, I want to do the opposite; I want to thank her for taking the time to respond to a little undergraduate student, especially since the email had been sitting in her inbox for awhile. Most people, if not responding right away, would never respond.

Anyways, this woman gave wonderful advice about how to be successful in the publishing industry and I am truly grateful she took the time out of her schedule to connect with me.

However, this story is the exception. Awkwardly, the opposite usually occurs: after writing a respectful and curious email, explaining who I am, and why I’d like to learn more from this publisher, book critic, writer, etc. (and not just at random, but after being recommended to this person), and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and…

No response.

Being from the Twin Cities and therefore abiding by the rules of “Minnesota nice,” I usually feel too intrusive and bothersome to send a second email. Some people just don’t have the time to answer questions—I get that.

Valinda from CP&R, however, recommended that in many situations, especially if I do care about connecting with that person, it doesn’t hurt to send that second email as long as it’s polite. Most people put off such emails, intending to reply but never getting around to it as their daily chores pile up, and would perhaps appreciate the reminder. It could even be more of a positive thing, since it would bring my name to their attention a second time and show my dedication.

Navigating the occasionally awkward waters of informational interviews—or even just simple emails, less formal-sounding—can be tricky at times. I think of all the advice I’ve gotten so far this semester from the handful of people I’ve had the privilege of talking to, and it does seem worth it. This woman in publishing, who I most recently have spoken to, was able to advise me to look into a specific summer class and specific places at which to intern that I hadn’t even thought of before.

Locating Myself

One essential part of choosing where to apply for internships is figuring out location.

For next summer, I have chosen to pretty much stick to my homeland, meaning the Twin Cities. As amazing as it would be to go abroad or to another city, I have decided that that is probably not the best choice for me at this moment in time for a variety of reasons.

  1. Money. If I intern at a place based in St. Paul, Minneapolis, or somewhere else in the greater metropolitan area, I can live at home and save money rather than spending it on rent, transportation, food, and everything in-between. I know my parents are fine with this—in fact, they would probably love to have me home again for another summer. Especially since I will be studying abroad fall 2011, I want to save as much money as possible in order to travel and have a good time in Ireland. If the internship is not paid, I can hopefully apply for one of the Scripps internship grants to make up for the lost money, or if worse comes to worst, I can easily get a part-time job for the weekends through the store I worked at during high school. (Something that would be harder to do if I was in a new city.) Luckily for me, Minneapolis (and St. Paul) have a thriving culture of journalism and publishing, so there are lots of options that I would apply to anyways.
  2. Study Abroad. I already mentioned this, but I am studying abroad fall semester of my junior year. I haven’t looked in the exact process for Ireland, but I feel like it would be best to deal with obtaining a student visa and renewing my passport if I’m at home and have easy access to a car.
  3. Boyfriend. So, this is actually the lamest excuse in the book, and if it was the only influence on choosing a city to intern in… well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be a strong enough influence, as much as I like him. (And I’d expect the same from him! We are both practical people.) However, it will be nice to be able to visit or see my boyfriend (since he lives only three hours away from the Cities, and this is, of course, assuming he’s going back to his hometown, which is probably unlikely) at least once or twice, rather than not at all.
  4. Actual Location. Let’s just be honest—I love my home state and the Twin Cities, and as I already mentioned, they are a great place for someone interested in journalism, publishing, or writing (believe it or not). Minnesota is beautiful in the summer, and not only will I be able to see my family, but I will be able to visit some of our 10,000 lakes, possibly go camping, and just have a great time further exploring Minneapolis.

The summer after junior year, I hope to obtain another internship, probably in a different field so I can explore my options, and I believe that then I will be more ready to intern abroad or in a different city (cough New York cough).

CP&R Drop-in Hours

So the process has begun.

Yesterday, I started my first internship application, writing up a draft of my cover letter, figuring out which clips to submit, emailing people for letters of reference, and tailoring my resume. I did my best to research what the internship required and would entail, and even contacted the person to whom I’m submitting the application with further questions.

Especially since this is one of the more competitive internships I’m applying for (I can’t know for sure, but it’s a guess), I’m making use of CP&R as much as possible. Today, I stopped by during drop-in hours and was helped by one of the student workers, who went over my resume and cover letter very closely, making really good recommendations.

Officially, here is my piece of advice to every and any student applying for an internship or for a job—and CP&R will love this—GET HELP FROM CP&R! It was great!

When I first started my cover letter on Sunday night, I felt very unsure about myself. I haven’t really written a cover letter before, and it all seemed pretty iffy—what should I write about, how should I write it, etc. Eventually, I worked out something acceptable. After being helped in CP&R, however, I took those comment and critique-covered pages back to my room and tackled them some more. The cover letter may still not be the best it could be, but I actually feel good about both that and my resume now, and it was even kind of fun—because, let’s be honest, what’s a better mood-booster than preparing a couple documents making you sound like a competent, witty, and brilliant person?

I am pretty nervous, since this is the first internship I’ve applied to and the first time I’ve really gone through this process. After being helped at CP&R though, I no longer regard the internship application process as a “necessary evil:” time-consuming, daunting, and nerve-wracking. Of course I’m still a bit nervous, but as I said, it was kind of fun, too. (Then again, this is coming from someone who thought college applications were kind of fun, too.)

Worse comes to worst—even if I don’t even get considered for an interview—at least I will still feel proud about my cover letter and resume.

Writing a Novel… well, Trying…

Monday, Nov. 1—exactly a week ago at the time of writing—I sat down with my laptop, a vague idea and outline for a novel, and began to type.

I wasn’t alone in doing so.

If you haven’t heard of it before, November is National Novel Writing Month. Started in 1999 with a small group of friends, the program has expanded into, well, a national event and organization, and has inspired thousands of people across the country, who in turn host workshops, events, and share their experiences on the NaNoWriMo website. The basic requirements are pretty simple: 50,000 words of one novel, all written in the month of November—you can’t start before Nov. 1, and you can’t still be working on it after midnight on Nov. 30.

I first heard of NaNoWriMo last year, when a fellow Scrippsie asked me if I was doing it. (I must just give off that writer vibe, or something. It was a little random.) I wasn’t, but I did make a mental note to try again this year. Over the summer, I even signed up and made an account on the official website, where you can do such things like upload your text, explain the plot of your novel, and chat with other writers.

It sounds simple—sure, 50,000 words is intimidating, but it’s only 1,667 words a day, which is about three pages single-space which is a chunk of writing, but also really not that hard… right?

Of course, after about two days, I found it a little hard to continue. I think I have near 4,000 words right now, which is a shame because I have found myself having the urge to write often, but needing to do homework or go to work instead. This is something I’ve experienced often; once I start myself practicing creative writing, I really enjoy it and want to continue…but then my other responsibilities get in the way. I’m still hoping to get close to the 50,000 words, even though I’m sorely off-track.

Even if I don’t complete NaNoWriMo this year, it has already served as inspiration and motivation to write more than I usually do (even if it’s only 4,000 words more), and has pushed me to think creatively past short stories to something more challenging. I’ve never even come close to writing 50,000 words before in my life, but if I want to be a writer… well, I’ll probably have to some day.

Writing this much, and finding the motivation to do so amid a (very) busy college schedule involving classes, a part time job, an internship, writing for two publications, and being editor of a campus magazine, is something I need to learn to do more on my own. This ties into the theme of many of my posts this semester, that have to do with me looking towards my future and figuring out what could help me get to where I want to—even if it’s something little that I can’t necessarily put in a resume. A knowledge of book critics, their work, and the overall contemporary fiction is necessary for book reviewing; being familiar with the publishing world will probably help me in publishing;… along those lines, writing a lot, even if it’s just rough words on paper, and making the time to do so is necessary for being a writer. Although my personal aspirations are quite specific, I hope that other students reading these posts—no matter what field they want to go into—will be inspired to look towards what goals they have and figure out the small changes they can do to help give them succeed, and succeed well.

P.S. Wish me luck!