UC student gains experience through hands-on internship
English major begins building her future at Short Vine Literary Journal
Fourth-year English major Kay Reed began looking for an internship as an outlet for her passion for publishing. Through resources at the University of Cincinnati, she landed that internship at the Short Vine Literary Journal, a publication run primarily by students in the English department in the College of Arts and Sciences.
“I took a class Fall of 2021 where I worked on the editorial side of the journal and loved it. At the end of the semester, my professor sent out an email looking for interns for the next semester,” Reed says. “I wanted to learn more about the formatting, publishing, and managing side of the process. It seemed like an awesome opportunity to learn in a hands-on way.”
UC student Kay Reed interned at the student-run Short Vine Literary Journal
Reed was not required to complete an internship for her major. But an increasing number of A&S students are landing internships in part because of UC's Bearcat Promise, which strives to ensure all students graduate with both a degree and a career plan through internships and professional development instruction and services. While traditional internship opportunities require that students alternate semesters working and pursuing their academics, non-traditional internships such as Reed's with Short Vine are not as formally structured, and do not necessarily add time to undergraduate study. And although they are non-traditional, these internships offer many of the same benefits: professional experience, networking, resume-building, and discovering which career paths are fulfilling and which are not.
During her semester-long internship, the English literary and cultural studies major spent the majority of the time reading through submissions to the journal, which includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art and photography. She then published accepted submissions on their online publication. Besides these main duties, she also conducted many interviews, and published content to the journal’s blog.
“This internship allowed me to understand in depth the process and steps for putting together a completed digital journal in a way that wouldn't have been an option in the classroom,” says Reed. “We didn't have a set class time to discuss deadlines and responsibilities, so it was a great chance to learn how to communicate effectively with a large team over emails and phone calls, as well as learn how to manage my time and energy independently.”
Outside of the skills you learn in an internship, it is also a fantastic way to see if the career you are working towards is a good fit for you.
Kay Reed Intern and UC English major Kay Reed
Reed explains why she recommends this experience to others: “Outside of the skills you learn in an internship, it is also a fantastic way to see if the career you are working towards is a good fit for you or if there is something else that may be better suited to your abilities and passions. Internships also help to provide real examples to add to your portfolio to help push you further in the job application process.”
Featured image at top: Texts on bookshelf. Credit: Inaki del Omo for Unsplash
By Hayley Garr
Student Journalist, Marketing and Communication, College of Arts and Sciences
artscinews@ucmail.uc.edu
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