LINK is a three week internship of our choosing. We go out on our own with a set internship and learn what it means to work in the real world. Choosing a LINK entails finding what you're interested in, and also finding a mentor that will lead you to a successful three weeks. We will be working 30-40 hours a week and at the end will be making a project of our choosing that has to relate to our internship.
When is it?
April 22 - May 10
Why?
LINK supports students in lifelong skills such as: • thriving in a professional setting • refining college and career goals • application of what they learn in our classrooms • making positive contributions to the community • developing a strong sense of self
Reflection
For my internship, I worked with a local children’s book author. I was able to witness the process of self-publishing, even though I don’t plan on becoming a children’s book author. She was publishing a few books during those three weeks, and they were all at different stages of the publishing process. I was really able to dive into what it means to what it means. You first have to believe in yourself and your book. If you don’t, then there really is no reason for publishing. You then have to have the dedication and patience to work with a lot of other people to make your book a thing. After that, you have to be able to market your book to where people will buy it. All in all, there was a lot more work that goes into it than I anticipated.
The anticipation for this LINK was maddening. I think that it’s fair to say that every junior was chomping at the bit to start, but I know I was for sure. I was getting the opportunity to be in my element for three weeks, and it was for a grade. Who wouldn’t be excited about that? Along with all of that excitement came the preparation. I didn’t have too much because Janae helped me with connections, and I was the very first person to confirm their internship (woohoo!). The only challenge I ran into was trying to get organized before I left. Balancing school and LINK was much harder than I had initially thought. In the end, I figured it out. I chose the internship that I did because Janae had talked, and she had noticed that I wasn’t stocked on any of the ideas except for something in writing. It had never really been done before, so we had to figure out what it would look like. Again, it all worked out in the end.
At the end of LINK, we were required to have a project that displayed all that we had learned there. The very first day, my mentor and I were brainstorming ideas of what we wanted to do, and what I had wanted to do was a poem book. We had to think of a project we could realistically do in three weeks. We ended up landing on the idea of doing a blog. I decided that I wanted to make it about what it’s like to be a teen in the 21st century, and add tips for parents and teens on how to connect and communicate. We worked really hard every week on building the website and writing content and launched it on the last Friday together.
Coming into LINK, I had to have a lot of dedication to my passion. Because no one had really done a writing internship, I had a lot of freedom in it, but I also had to manage myself and my time. I had to work hard for what I wanted. As I went through LINK, I grew in my time management skills and in my perseverance. Building a website from scratch is SO much harder than using Weebly as I do for school. We ran into problems that were frustrating and seemed impossible. We checked out books from the library and researched a lot, but we finally did it, and all I can say is it was so worth it to see my final product. I am so grateful for my mentor and all that she did to teach me to be a writer.
Speaking of, here are some things she taught me. Being a writer, you have a lot of freedom. She always said that “Creativity will come when it comes.” meaning it could come at two in the morning or in the middle of a midday nap. She taught me how to be productive in those times where the creative juices decided to not work. She taught me how to organize tasks in their importance, and how to be more grounded in myself. It was such an amazing experience, and I would do it a million times again. It helped me realize what it is to be a writer in this day and age.