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Gabriella Paez
ENC4942
Dr. Molly Hand
April 26, 2019
Internship Reflection and Self Evaluation
Of all the internships I had throughout my time at Florida State University, the one in the
Dean’s Office of the College of Arts and Sciences has been both my favorite and the most
lucrative. I was lucky enough to work with a small team that had a high impact and so much
passion. I consider myself lucky that I have gained professional relationships that I anticipate
will carry me through the beginning of my career in the writing and editing disciplines.
I was fortunate enough to have interned there starting summer 2018, working on writing
and communications for the college for almost a year. However, this semester was probably the
most fruitful for me as a student and new candidate for post-graduate positions.
I was considered the lead (or senior) intern this semester and toggled my own projects
and helping my coworkers with theirs. We had similar projects, mostly articles that would either
go on the College’s site or in the magazine Spectrum, but different skill sets. Helping my
coworkers think through questions for an interview, process an article outline, get through rough
patches in drafts, and finalize pieces was both rewarding and crucial management exercise. I was
able to learn how to see the strengths and weaknesses in an employee and figure out how best to
aid them, support them, but also get projects done that were in the best interest of the College.
I realized that by leading others I could strengthen my own writing. I saw my own
weaknesses reflected in other’s writing and learned from them as well. I noticed that the balance
between leader and friend is a difficult one to sustain, but one that is worth putting an effort into
creating and maintaining. My supervisor, Heather Athey, trusted me with this role and I am
grateful for the experience and trust. As such, I feel comfortable eventually putting myself out
there and promoting myself as a candidate for leadership positions down the line in my career.
As someone interested in pursuing writing in some sort of professional capacity, being
able to constantly write was both exciting and incredibly helpful. In particular, I helped piece
together quite a few spotlight articles. Spotlight articles can feature either student or faculty stars
from any of the eighteen departments, or numerous labs and programs housed within the college.
They allowed me to learn about impactful Florida State figures from a variety of disciplines. The
spotlight articles also allowed me to grow comfortable with a question and answer article format
that is a staple in journalism. Two I am particularly proud of is the faculty spotlight on Assistant
Professor of Statistics Hongyuan Cao and the student spotlight on Scientific Computing student
Gwen Lofman. Both were in departments that were foreign to me and required me to process
concepts, themes, and ideas that were challenging, yet deserved to be featured.
I also wrote both feature and news articles. These usually took longer to complete but had
bigger showcase potential. Feature and news articles also helped me further hone my writing
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skills for future career endeavors. My favorite from this semester is probably Fantasy, religion
and Harry Potter feature in FSU’s London study abroad program, for some obvious and subtler
reasons. I imagine most students would find writing about the Harry Potter series fun and
engaging, but it is one of my favorite articles also because it gave me wiggle room to blend
elements of my more creative non-fiction writing style with your typical, straightforward
journalistic style.
Though the aforementioned article arguably takes the cake and my heart, I really enjoyed
Collaboration cultivates cross-disciplinary environmentalism as well. It was an opportunity to
take a topic (in this case, global warming, climate change, and the need to be environmentally
conscious) and showcase the efforts on campus to raise awareness and make a change. It also
needed more collaboration than the average article. I interviewed two different people, searched
for an appropriate photo, researched the United Nations and their affiliated events, and had to get
approval from Sustainable Campus to finalize the piece.
The only thing I wish I had more access to or more experience with throughout the course
of this internship is social media and creating visual content. My articles were often shared on
the College’s twitter or facebook, but I wish I had more experience making accompanying
graphics or captions. I think a positive spin to that is that I am aware of the impact social media
can have for institutions (public or private) and causes. Another positive spin to this desire is that
I know I have room to grow in this skillset and can express interest. I also am able to reach out to
my coworkers and supervisor and discuss this, begin to learn through others and by
observation—which is indeed a professional blessing.
I am left feeling as though I have newfound strengths and weaknesses that can be turned
into other strengths. I think a couple of strengths have been explored previously, like leadership
and an ability to write within different styles and formats, but also include a passion to continue
learning, and a willingness to adapt. I can grow when it comes to learning new software (Adobe
programs, especially) both for media and for publishing articles. I can also grow when it comes
to networking beyond the team I have been placed in at that time.
Above all, I recommend pursuing this internship or something incredibly similar to it to
any interested students. The environment is stimulating and is full of wonderful people you
would not want to leave, no matter what opportunities and experiences await after it. I would
advise prospective interns to take as much initiative and be as attentive as possible.
The last “gift” (for lack of a better term) this internship will give me is another set of
publications in the college’s magazine, Spectrum. These pieces are something I get to look
forward to sharing with both the university and this portfolio. This upcoming “gift” is also a
reason that interested students should seize an opportunity like it and act like sponges.
Reflection word count: 1020
Total project/portfolio word count: 4430
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Individual project word counts:

 Fantasy, religion and Harry Potter feature in FSU’s London study abroad program
(1144)
 Student Spotlight: Gwen Lofman (826)
 Faculty Spotlight: Hongyuan Cao, Associate Professor of Statistics (756)
 Faculty Spotlight: Alisha Gaines, Associate Professor of English (976)
 Collaboration cultivates cross-disciplinary environmentalism (728)