Reflections: Interning for PARADE

Posted by: Sarah Lyon (silyon@colby.edu) on Mon, August 06, 2012, 2:50 p.m.

Summer has been flying by so quickly. It’s almost August, and for me, this summer, like the past few years, has been full of journalism. This year, my Lovejoy award has taken me to New York City, where I am one of 33 interns in the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) summer program. While I first felt a little out of place being one of only a handful of liberal arts students in a group of magazine journalism majors, I quickly became accustomed to my tasks at PARADE Magazine, where I’m interning, and I’ve enjoyed hearing the stories from my peers, who are spread out at different magazines at publishing houses across the city.

PARADE is unique because while it’s the most widely read magazine in the nation, the editorial staff is very small. The office has a very comfortable, friendly vibe. I’m one of two interns, so I've been given numerous tasks and have been busier than I have been at any previous internship. One of the most exciting things I've gotten to do so far was work on the cover story for the July 22 issue, which was all about the Olympics. On a day-to-day basis, I assist a variety of editors with background research and even write my own online stories. I recently attended my first photo shoot, for PARADE’s food magazine, Dash. No celebrities were involved! While you certainly don’t have to deal with hair and makeup when photographing soups and desserts, lighting, table props and garnishes are still an important element of the shoot, so it was interesting to observe the process.

I’ve enjoyed having the opportunity to not only be an intern in the city but also to be part of the ASME program. ASME has taken us to weekly lunches at magazines ranging from Glamour (where a fellow intern is working) to The New Yorker, and hearing the editors speak there has been a very cool experience.

I’m down to the last two weeks of my internship and will soon be heading up to campus to get started on the orientation issue of the Echo, so I’m trying to make the most of my last days in the big city. Moving from Waterville to Scotland to Washington to New York within the last year has been an adventure, but hey, it’s given me lots of writing material!