Earlier this summer, I started interning at my local newspaper, the Wallkill Valley Times. It is one of three papers within the Times Community Papers of the Hudson Valley.

During the month of May, before I started, I spent a lot of my time doing nothing. Thus giving me more time to be nervous about having a job that required more than answering phones. I remember feeling anxious at the though of finally doing something for the summer.

On my first day, I was immediately thrown into assignments like interviewing new business owners, going to graduations and other events. I was thrown off right away by the amount of work a writer does for the paper. I became very busy just within my first week, but I didn’t mind it.

The following Wednesday, I was published for the first time in a paper. I was so excited and the feeling of seeing my name in the paper above something I wrote was indescribable. Each week was the same. I was given assignments, I’d do them and then they'd get published. I worked out a schedule for working both in and out of the office.

Any local newspaper is going to be small, so I knew it would be nothing like working for the New York Times. But I did hope for a little movie-like reality. My mind often went to the movie

Spotlight. Sadly, it was nothing like that. The office was often empty or we all had headphones in. It was a lone-wolf type job.

Eventually, I did feel overwhelmed. I never anticipated the amount of work a reporter does for just a single article. I was spending a lot of time at board meetings, interviews, phone calls, events and especially driving around. Everyday I had somewhere to be and the next day I had to write about it.

I realized writing for a paper wasn’t for me. I felt overworked and a little used. I was tired all the time and spent most of my free time sleeping. I especially felt very broke. My writing wasn’t my best and I also wasn’t excited about a lot of what I was writing. I was writing close to seven articles a week, both small and large. While the frequent writing helped, my heart wasn’t in it.

In my personal opinion, there was a lot of work for very little reward.

With all that being said, I did still learn a lot about myself and my writing. I learned what I enjoy writing about and what I don’t, what I’m good at, bad at, and where I can improve. Also, since the paper was local, I got to know a lot more about where I live. I met so many people and learned more about what my own village officials do for us.

Although I couldn’t wait to finish my internship, I am really happy I did it. Not only have I gained experience in the world of editing and publishing, but I think my writing has improved. Plus, I got paid a good amount at the end from the State Press Association. How could I go wrong?