Early last Spring, after waiting over a month, sending many emails, and being very frustrated by not knowing whether or not I was accepted, I was offered an internship position at CBS News in Washington D.C. When I found out I was ecstatic…I was loving being part of a real news crew with Oregon News, I was co-producing DuckU News, and I felt confident taking on a new internship after spending last Summer interning with NBC 7/39 in San Diego. However, after moving out of my house in Oregon and coming back to San Diego, my mood changed quickly. I missed my friends, hated not being busy all the time, and questioned whether news was the right industry for me. I decided to start applying for jobs, and if I found one that paid well and that I liked enough, I would take it over my internship with CBS News.
Days went by, I was still unemployed, and I started realizing that I had to make a decision soon. I was scared, and part of me wanted to turn down the internship in hopes of finding a job that would pay, rather than pay thousands of dollars I don’t have to move across the country and intern full time for no pay. I introduced myself to a girl who works at my gym and is interning for ABC in San Diego this Summer, and her stuck-up personality and snooty questions about my reporting reel made me fear that everyone in this industry was going to be as self-centered as she was. But I kept thinking about my favorite professor who wrote me a recommendation for the internship and even called me to congratulate me after I got it. I kept thinking about how I received an $1000 scholarship from the UO Alumni Association of Washington D.C. to help with my living costs, and I kept thinking about how I would be closer to all of my family if I moved back to the east coast. But I was still scared. No one, I mean no one hates failure more than I do, and to be honest, I am pretty bad at handling rejection and not feeling like I’m good enough…and part of me thought that would happen if I moved to D.C. all on my own.
I had to make up my mind about what I wanted to do, so I finally reminded myself thateverything happens for a reason. If I wasn’t supposed to go to this internship, I would have gotten a job in San Diego that would have paid me enough to want to stay. God works in mysterious ways, and finally, out of nowhere, I got the courage to mentally commit to this internship. I even applied to two different intern housing locations in Washington D.C. earlier today! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one of those work out…I think it would be really fun to be surrounded with other interns my age who are interning for different Congress members, the White House, and hopefully even other news stations.
My mind is made up. I’m moving to Washington D.C. in the Fall to intern with CBS News, and as soon as I figure out where I’m living, I’m booking a one way ticket to the nation’s capitol.
