This is the next in a series of posts by recipients of the 2018 Career Services Summer Funding Grant. We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they’ve been spending their summer. You can read the entire series here.
This entry is by Sophia Clark, COL ’19
This summer I had the opportunity to intern at Los Angeles-based women’s empowerment magazine, ENTITY Magazine. As an English-African Studies double-major with hopes to go into media or publishing after graduation, the skills I learned at ENTITY complimented my academic pursuits, in turn making me a stronger writer. First, while at ENTITY I met and learned from some of the most amazing women. From one-on-one conversations with ENTITY’s CEO Jennifer Schwab, one of the founders of Sierra Club Green Home, to hearing Amel Najjar speak about Children of War, a foundation focused on providing life-saving surgery to children in war-torn areas, these women are real-life examples of how an unconventional path can lead you to your calling. Secondly, the hard-skills that ENTITY taught me are invaluable because they are skills that are not traditionally taught in a college curriculum but are imperative to entering a multi-media work environment.
One of the most influential aspects of the internship at ENTITY was learning the intricacies of Adobe Creative Cloud—namely, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Adobe XD. Prior to ENTITY I had never touched any of these programs and learning the fundamentals of each has given me what I believe is unique insight into the other half of writing—visuals and design. Being familiar with Adobe Creative Cloud has allowed me to better understand the process of writing for an online platform, where photos, infographics, and imagery add incredible value to a piece. To think that I can not only write an article, but also create the visuals exactly as I imagined them, is powerful.
Along with learning how to package an article from start to finish, ENTITY trained us to write articles that are search engine optimization (SEO) compatible. This training was incredible because it showed us as interns what to do to create an article that will be found, and read, in the major search engines.
My time at ENTITY not only introduced me to inspirational women who are industry leaders, but also helped bridge a gap in my formal education that will help me in my post-graduation endeavors. As an English-African Studies double major I have had a lot of experience writing in an academic capacity. However, my studies had not taught me some of the most necessary skills for entering an industry that is largely online. Learning how to write using SEO means that articles I write going forward are more likely to be found, and read using traditional search engines. Secondly, nowadays writers need to not only be able to write but to also edit, copyedit, photograph and create a completed article within an incredibly short amount of time. Learning how to create visuals that are attractive and publishable is vital to being marketable going forward. ENTITY was able to bridge those gaps, and for that I am thankful.
