About two and a half months ago, I graduated college. As tasseled caps flew, I felt the scaffolding that had held my life together for over a decade fall away.
I was no longer in school. Life would no longer be divvied up and dictated by classes and midterms and summer jobs. My days would no longer mirror those of my peers.
The future stretched out unplanned. The slate was clean, and everyone would go their own way.
That first step away from cozy academic monotony and toward the uncertainty of post-grad life was equal parts exciting and terrifying. But my feet met solid ground at The Journal News, where I’ve spent the summer as a news intern.
On every day of this internship,
I’ve woken unsure of where I’d be going, who I’d be meetingand what I’d be learning. And that was the best part about the job.
One particularly chaotic day early on in my time here stands out to me. It was a humid Tuesday in June, and I had an early morning interview with a beauty pageant contestant from Rockland County. Afterwards I sped off to Peekskill, where I spent my afternoon touring the town’s art installations with the New York Secretary of State.
When the clock ticked to five, I rushed off to a high school graduation ceremony in Eastchester, where Iasked college-bound youngsters how they felt about Taylor Swift’s big day. Eight hours and three towns later, I was left with a near-empty tank of gas and a newfound appreciation for what this job gives you access to.
I’ve known I wanted to pursue this for a while, ever since my own high school graduation in Hong Kong, my hometown. At the time, the city was resisting a brutal government crackdown on the free press. Independent newspapers were shuttered, journalists were shuttled to jail, and local, truthful reporting suddenly became a rare phenomenon.
Witnessing it all unfold helped me appreciate the power local journalism can hold, and it pushed me to try my hand. Since then, each and every story I’ve taken on has taught me something new and made me a better reporter.
At The Journal News, I’ve learned to navigate conversations with people experiencing unimaginable loss, and with others embarking on exciting new steps. I’ve covered a tornado, a fire, and a beloved ice-cream stand. I’ve knocked on many doors, typed up stories while sitting on road curbs and spent hours on the phone with community members of all stripes.
Dozens of articles later, I’m grateful to everyone in the Lower Hudson Valley who shared their stories with me. And I’m grateful to the team of brilliant reporters and editors at The Journal News, who have been a guiding light amid the doom and gloom that often hangs over journalism.
Among many other things, this internship has instilled in me a stubborn belief that this is what I want to do with my life.
I'm not sure what's next, but I'm excited to start carving out a place for myself in this industry, one story at a time.
Leia Green is a recent graduate from Boston University and was a summer intern on the lohud.com Trending and Breaking News Desk. She has written for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Cape Cod Chronicle and YourArlington, and edited for Boston University's student newspaper The Daily Free Press.
Editor's note: Leia Green interned this summer alongside returning intern Michelle Grisales. Learn about Michelle by reading this Q&A.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Lohud.com summer intern talks community news, Taylor Swift and more
