Comments From Former Interns

My internship at The Chronicle was like going to j-school, minus the thousands of dollars in debt. That's where I learned how to conduct an interview, how to write a news story, and how to maneuver copy through multiple layers of editing. In just a few months, I got to work on straight news articles, colorful squibs, and narrative pieces. Best of all, there's very little busy work: Chronicle interns spend almost all of their time reporting and writing.

I was set on my own from the first day but never felt lost because of reporters' and editors' willingness to answer my questions. This is not an internship for envelope stuffers or wallflowers. You will write and you will learn. And you will come out of it with thicker skin and a handful of clips.

This internship is hands-on, demanding, and fun. You have the pace of a daily Web site, the precision and elegance of a weekly, and the opportunity to cover both local and national educational developments. What better preparation for the best beat at any newspaper?

The thing that I really appreciated was the extent to which the writers and editors took an interest in what I was doing. I think the fact that seven years later I still keep in touch with colleagues from The Chronicle shows that the mentoring doesn't stop when you walk out the door.

Today, as an education reporter at a New York newspaper, I continue to draw on the writing, reporting and analytical skills that The Chronicle helped me hone.

While most of my peers were sorting mail and fact-checking at their magazine internships, I was at The Chronicle reporting on Congress, doing interviews with national figures, writing full features and helping edit final drafts of the magazine. When I left, I had a binder full of clips from a respected national magazine, a head full of ideas and the tools it takes to work for, and eventually run, a publication.