Hello, readers! My name is Kristina Gonzalez, and I am the new editorial intern at Lehigh Valley Style for fall. Born and raised in Bethlehem, I have always had a love for reading and writing. I pursued my passions at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where I received my bachelor's degree in English with a concentration in writing studies. I knew that I wanted to continue my education after graduating, but I wasn't certain about what I wanted to study. I always was interested in publishing, but I wasn't even aware that publishing programs existed until I stumbled upon the Publication Management program at Drexel University. Studying publishing has been a great learning experience this past year, but I knew that if I really wanted to know the ins and outs of a publication I would need to find an internship. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to be awarded an editorial internship at Lehigh Valley Style. There are multiple reasons why I chose Lehigh Valley Style to apply to for my internship, a couple being that I love the variety of stories that run in each issue and their support of local businesses in the Lehigh Valley.
My first day as an intern, I was fortunate to sit in on a marketing meeting. It was exciting for me to witness things that I have learned in my publishing courses to be discussed in a real-world setting. After the meeting I went back to my desk, where my email box began to fill up with different story ideas from Lisa. I won't lie to you, at first I felt a little bit overwhelmed. Thankfully though, Lisa was helpful in answering all of my questions and slowly my stress levels started to go down. On day two I was doing research for articles and making progress on getting in touch with different business owners for interviews. By the end of the week, I left the office feeling a hundred times more confident than I did on my first day.
photo by colin coleman fotos
Of course, I can't end this blog post without mentioning the best part of my first week. On my first day I was asked if I wanted to help with the Women of Style event for the August issue. I worked at my part time that day and had finals for my summer courses I should have been working on, but I couldn't turn down the opportunity to go to the event. I arrived early to help set up before hundreds of business women of the Lehigh Valley began to show up. Lisa and I worked on setting up the poster board excerpts from the magazine on the tables that would be given to women featured in the magazine. I was stationed at the entrance with Lisa, where I helped to pass out complimentary glasses of champagne to guests. Being a greeter allowed me to network with a lot of new people, which was such a fantastic opportunity. By the end of the night my feet were in pain from standing in heels, but it was definitely worth it. Helping with this event made me even more grateful that I am able to be a part of this fall, and I look forward to sharing all my wonderful experiences with everyone. Until next time…
