Kelsey: Career updates!

I haven’t written for a little while because a ton of stuff has been going on. I have been going to multiple job interviews each week and applying to every job I could find. My internship ends in a week and I need to figure out where I’m going to be.

It all paid off, though. I had a phone interview, then a face-to-face interview with two people and then finally another face-to-face interview with the CEO of Fresh Media Network. I had been sought out on LinkedIn by a recruiter for the company–I didn’t even apply for this job. But I got it, and I am the new (and first) Social Media Specialist for this 2-year-old startup. I will be primarily handling social media and secondarily I will be creating content! I couldn’t be more excited to be involved in this groundbreaking startup in West Palm Beach. The CEO, Paul Bartko, has launched several successful startups prior to this one. I now have a well-paying job with full benefits–fresh out of college.

I can’t explain how I felt last week when I got this phone call. I had been so worried about what I’m going to do after my internship, and now I know. All within a span of seven hours, I had accepted the offer, found a new apartment and been approved for the first time without a co-signer. There was a lot of change in my life last week, and this coming week will be the same way. I am finishing up the end of my internship and moving into my new place on Friday. I can’t wait to post updates about my apartment and new job (which will be found on my other blog).

I really want to thank all of the readers of our blog. I appreciate your interest in our summer adventure on the East coast. I know this has been a unique experience and you all are why we have a blog. We wanted to update our very supportive family and friends on our internships. Without you, this blog wouldn’t exist.

“You don’t get what you want in this life, you get what you negotiate.” -John Howard (my dad!)

Gabrielle: My First Boca Minute!

It feels like just yesterday I was sitting on my bed in my dorm room watching BocaMagTV’s “Boca Minute” videos. Now…here we are, and here I am! Check out BocaMagTV’s 4th of July episode of Boca Minute featuring your favorite brown girl. 😉

Kelsey: Excuse me, can I go to the bathroom?

In my newsfeed the other day, the above quote, stuck out at me like a sore thumb. I’m not 18 and it has been three years, not months, since I had to ask permission to go to the bathroom. But what this quote means to me is that people expect you to turn 18 and have your whole life figured out. You’re an adult now and you have to know what you want to do in your life.

I witnessed this kind of conversation on Facebook last week when my boyfriend posted his GoFundMe he set up to raise money to attend the Fire Science Academy at SCTI. People were questioning his motives and his decisions: why did he choose such an expensive school when there are cheaper ones nearby? Why didn’t he wait to find out if he would ever leave Florida before earning a state certification? Why wouldn’t he move to the other coast for school if he thought he might end up there?

The answer to all of those questions is the same, and it is quite simple: because he doesn’t know where life with take him. And how can you expect him to know that? You don’t expect to be able to read the future, but you are expected to have some idea of what your twenties will be like. And those same people are also telling you that your twenties are for exploration, adventure and risks before real life hits you (a mortgage, car payments, children, etc.). So which is it? Are your twenties supposed to be a roller coaster you jump on and ride wherever it takes you or are you supposed to plan every single move and do everything in your power to have answers to everyone’s questions?

How does this relate to my summer internship? Because I don’t know where I will end up after. I have been applying and interviewing for weeks and yet I am still not sure where I will be. I am the kind of person who likes to know how things will end up. I like to have a plan. I am constantly reevaluating my life–just ask my mom–she has sat through many I-need-to-figure-out-my-life  conversations.

I would love, more than anything, to stay at Boca Raton Magazine, but they are fully staffed right now. I can honestly say I have had the best internship experience with them. I learned so much about magazine publishing and hope to bring those skills to a publication in Florida. I still have two weeks left, which seems too crazy to be true, but I am going to make the most out of them.

I hope the next time I write that I have something career-related to update on. But for now, I am going to figure out what my twenties mean to me. I don’t want to look back at this decade and wonder what I was doing.

“Enjoy yourself. That’s what your 20s are for. Your 30s are to learn the lessons. Your 40s are to pay for the drinks.” – Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City

Gabrielle: Security Guard VS. Wiener Dog.

Gabrielle: All of my baggage.

He’s gorgeous, he’s young and he can sing. For once, I am not talking about Zac Efron *swoon*.

A few weeks ago I mentioned my adventure with Kelsey to West Palm Beach to cover Chase Rice’s country concert. The concert was a blast to cover. The fans were free-spirited, the music was loud and the press-passes were super handy.

Kelsey: Internships are for learning

I don’t have cancer. I’m not in a new relationship.  And I don’t have a little sister to save from a drunken party. But I still connect to April Carver from the new ABC Family series Chasing Life. As a “floater”–basically an intern–at a Boston-based newspaper, April is a 24-year-old woman who is “paying her dues.” Her fellow floater seems to think he didn’t go to Harvard to have to pay his dues (I’m questioning why he probably went into massive debt at Harvard for journalism).

April is just starting out on her post-grad journey and is doing everything in her power to work her way to the top. From passing out at a blood drive to get an interview with a sports star to keeping her cancer a secret from her boss so he doesn’t use it against her, she is trying to show her boss she is more than a silent intern who can only accomplish the grunt work. April has the guts and the ambition that I like to think I have. I like to think I wouldn’t be afraid to dig up dirt about a politicians son or risk a hospital visit to get the exclusive interview no one else could.

Unfortunately for April, though, she doesn’t seem like she is learning a lot as an intern. She seems to be doing everything with no guidance whatsoever. If there is one thing about my internship at Boca Raton Magazine that is different from April’s, it’s that I’m learning. A lot of newspapers and magazines will hire interns purely for the free work (how is a magazine going to teach each intern independently when there is 20 of them?). I am fortunate that my boss wants to teach me about the industry and how to succeed in it.

What I thought was purely a brainstorming session turned into a lesson on interviews when my boss drilled me on being able to think of questions off the top of my head for a less than 30 second interview. I learned a lot from that quick drill, but I learned about myself too. I am not as good at quick and short interviews as I thought I would be–I like to be prepared by researching and writing questions beforehand.

This is what an internship is for, or at least what it should be. It’s for learning about what it’s really like in your industry, what the people are like and for discovering your own strengths and weaknesses and then working on them. You are interning for a company and your main goal should be to assist them in any way they need, but if you find the right internship, the company should want to help you too. Your bosses should in some capacity become your mentors.

” The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” -Vince Lombardi

 

Gabrielle: Press Pass

Well, as many of you might have read below, Kelsey and I have been experiencing some exciting things! Yesterday we were handed our very own press passes and naturally–we could’t wait to try them out. (P.S. When I say “try them out”, I mean wave them around in people’s faces to see how far we could go with them.)

My fascination with these laminated, business card-sized creations started exactly one year ago. It was sometime in June when Vine-superstars Cody and Marcus Johns announced they were having a “SuperVine Meet Up” in West Palm Beach. I was currently working as an intern (shocker there) with a videography company when I heard the news. Just for kicks, I shot both self-made celebrities an email asking if I could come out and “cover” their event. To my surprise…15 minutes later I was on the phone with Cody Johns as we confirmed plans of when/where to meet and how I could interview them. (4 minutes later I was screaming and dancing outside of my car).

Check out my interview with Marcus Johns HERE

Upon hearing about this amazing opportunity, it was only natural for my insanely supportive family of 5.5 ( the .5 is for my dog…she’s only 3 lbs) to cram in with my boyfriend in his SUV and hit the road towards West Palm Beach. One [completely unfair] speeding ticket and one flat tire later, we had arrived.

The scene was incredible. Despite the drizzly, grey sky, several hundred girls coated almost every foot of the plaza where this legendary “Supervine” was to take place. As I got out of the car and [my boyfriend] carried my equipment to our spot, a woman ran to me with an umbrella covering me as I walked. Why did this complete stranger do such a kind-hearted thing? Some might say it was out of the goodness of her heart and her uncanny compassion for strangers. I personally think it was a small, laminated card that I had pinned to my jacket. My very first press pass.

What I hadn’t mentioned was that my dad, the guy who has 143,343,401 things to do every day, managed to accomplish 143,343,402 things that day. My father had somehow managed to create a very convincing press pass complete with my name, picture and a bar code (what that barcode actually leads to…is still a mystery) but either way, that woman with the umbrella was just the beginning. All evening people treated me differently. Why? Because I looked official. Heck, I was official!

That press pass not only granted me perks, it reminded me that I was there for a purpose.

So for anyone that actually made it through this ridiculously long blog post, (hi mom) I just want to share how amazing it was covering a Chase Rice concert with my Boca Raton Magazine press pass. What is even more amazing is that this concert was in the same town and in the same plaza that I was in exactly one year ago. 

Kelsey and I had a great time at the concert last night. Our laminate treasures granted us free parking, exclusive access next to the stage and we even managed to get an interview with Rice’s lead guitarist. *swoon*

Thank you dad for being my #1 media outlet. Your support means everything.

 

 

Kelsey: I’ve been published!

So I haven’t updated anyone because I didn’t want to rain on Gabrielle’s parade (I only say this because it is currently raining here) as she moved to Boca and started her internship. I can’t help but post now though because some exciting stuff is happening!

The magazine is on the search for a Boca-based cover girl for an upcoming issue and I am getting to see how the model casting process works. There are 18 girls who are finalists and they are now starting to narrow them down to five by doing an in-person interview and taking more pictures. This cover girl should not only be beautiful and photogenic (hey, it’s important if they’re going to be on a cover!), but they should also be involved in the community somehow.

When Gabrielle started yesterday she mentioned it may help us at events if we have some kind of press pass so that people not only get out of our way (her words, not mine) but also possibly give us exclusive and back-stage access! We are going to see how far these passes get us tonight at the Chase Rice concert in West Palm Beach. Gabrielle will take pictures and I’ll write a blog post, but what we can’t wait for the most is getting to wear our boots.

Speaking of blog posts, my first one was published yesterday. Even better is that it reach 100 likes in less than 24 hours! The editor, Kevin, said most blogs are lucky to get 10. Looks like I made a new 24-hour record. Click the link and click “like” to keep it going!

The new issue of the magazine got delivered to our offices today. It features a top secret cover star, so check back when we reveal who it is. As I was flipping through the pages, Stefanie pointed out the masthead to me. There it was, my name, under editorial interns. My first time ever being on a print masthead! It was amazing.

I have more exciting updates for you all, but they will have to wait for another post. Let me know what you think of my first published blog on the website!

 

Gabrielle: I’m Here!

You know, Kelsey has been telling me to write for our blog for quite some time now… However, there just was never a great time to stop and write down everything going on…because there was so much going on! But, I must admit… trying to sit down to write now, after so much has happened is somewhat challenging.

How do you even write for a blog anyways?

Well, I guess I should just start typing…and see where it goes.

Hi, I am Gabrielle Doraisamy, the slightly, more-tan contributor to this blog. I am an ambitious television broadcast student who is, like many people in this world, working to make an honest passion, a career. So why is this at all interesting to you? Well, my journey has led me on a summer adventure and I am lucky enough to share this experience with my best friend, Kelsey Howard. (And now anyone reading this amateur blog post.)

As you may have already gathered, we have accepted summer internships in Boca Raton at Boca Raton Magazine. Kelsey has already begun her internship experience (and rocking it by the way.) I have just gotten here and begin my first day tomorrow.

I must say, I have thoroughly enjoyed living with Kelsey so far. I think one of my favorite things is when we plan out our outfits. We both have separate rooms and closets but we constantly fly from one closet to the other borrowing, critiquing and lending between the two of us until we both are convinced our outfits are equally awesome.

It is great to experience something with someone who understands why you are there and shares the same drive to succeed. (And has great taste in handbags)

Current feelings: Excitement, peace, sleepiness (is that even a feeling?)

Kelsey: Finding My Voice

When I started this internship, my goals were to learn more about the industry, gain a mentor in the field and find my voice. The emphasis on finding my voice for this particular post. It felt lost, gone, if you will, after two years of academic papers and breaking news writing, my voice, not buried and able to be dug up, felt cremated–I couldn’t put the tiny pieces of ash back together no matter how bad I wanted to. The voice that once captured moving stories in a way that captivated their readers was dead and gone; diminished and covered up by all of the MLA, Chicago and AP style requirements, margin and font requirements, public record seeking and inverted pyramid requirements. There came a point in time when the who, what, where, why, when and how became more important than how the subjects felt, how their story impacted their lives and how it would affect society. Their quotes, those that were strong and really captured the essence of their story, were less important than their educational background and sequence of events. It was more important for me to sit outside a courthouse or show up at the police station to ask the tough questions and cross the lines of personal space than it was for me to gain the trust of an interviewee.

“They don’t feel comfortable telling their story, so I’ve taken a different angle,” I once told a professor. I made it a point not to ditch the subject all together, but to take an angle that still told her story in a way that made her comfortable. He told me he didn’t care, that if I wanted to receive credit I would have to write and publish the original story. Forget the rape victim’s wishes and write the story. I took a zero. My GPA was far less important to me than telling her story against her will. It’s funny, ironic, that I took a Communication Ethics course the following semester.

Throughout my college career I found myself slowly moving away from the creativity that I once had to meet the standards of my professors. Why? To get an “A.” To raise my GPA. To please someone who I was paying to teach me, but instead was moving me around like a puppet on a string.

So when my first article for my internship was edited today and it came back to me practically rewritten, I took it hard. Not because I felt so close to the writing that it offended me, but because I knew the corrections Kevin made were not only good, they were better. They were what I would have written two years ago when creativity was still at the forefront of everything I wrote. I read his edited piece and could clearly identify my reporting. I could see all of the facts that I had gotten from my interview and the quotes I pulled were still there, but they were surrounded by words that were more like art. So now, I take these corrections and I apply them to the next article I write, and in the meantime I find myself. I find who I used to be as a writer. I find the me who saw inspiration for a story in everything, not for the news factor, but for the emotional, raw, societal element. Because to find my voice again, I first have to find myself.

It’s not back to square one, as Gabrielle frankly put it. I now take the reporting and interview skills I earned in school (regardless of my distaste in how they were “taught” to us) and pull the creativity and my voice back out of the ground. It hasn’t been cremated, or even buried, it has only been covered up. It will come back to me.

Until then, I will: