Aside from being an avocado toast and tea enthusiast and being obsessed with my malt-zhu named Lola, I’ve always been a writer. I grew up writing in a journal every night before bed and still do this very day. The day I decided I wanted to be a journalist came very early in my life and I continue to stand by my decision on telling the world about the truth behind the lines. Most things intrigue me and when I hear a story, I need to know more – a typical journalist was born to be nosy, and I take pride in it every single day.

 

I could go on forever on my love for journalism but I’ll start with some personal background first. I was born and raised on Long Island and am a first generation American. My mother immigrated to America when she was 10 years old from Sicily – and indeed still has a very heavy accent. My father, on the other hand, came to America when he was three years old from Serbia and had moved back and forth from the states and Belgrade over the years. As you could probably already imagine, I have a huge family and just to put that into perspective – 14 cousins on my dad’s side of the family and 10 on my mom’s side. But I wouldn’t trade my life in for anything better. I take so much pride in my background and have grown to be a very family-oriented person.

 

So family-oriented that no one thought I’d go away for college, but I did. In fact, I went across the country, and I don’t regret any moment of it. I attend the University of Arizona and happen to be the first student from the UA to be accepted into the ASME program, which is a huge honor. I’m currently a senior, majoring in journalism with a double-minor in communication and eSociety. I can’t believe I’m entering my senior year of college; it feels like just yesterday that I was accepted into the university and now I have one more semester left. Yes, I’m graduating in December, and no, I don’t regret a single thing about finishing a semester early.

 

Over the years, I have written for multiple newspapers through internships and jobs to make sure that I had clips for when I graduated. I took a public speaking class and realized I would never want to be a news anchor because I hate being the center of attention but also realized that my love is for print journalism and always has been. Being accepted into the ASME program made me extremely excited for the great opportunities I was going to receive, but also made me nervous about succeeding as high as everyone else in the program since I had no magazine experience at all.

 

I realized during my first week interning at Family Circle, that it didn’t really matter that I didn’t have experience in magazine writing. As long as I had any journalism experience at all, I was going to thrive this summer. Not only did I realize that but, I also realized that magazines are the career path I wanted to pursue after graduation. I’ve always had a passion for fashion, health, lifestyle and food, all of which Family Circle happens to write. So this summer clarified my passions and helped put them into a future for me.

 

As I go on about Family Circle and how great it’s been working there, I’ll give you a rundown on how my day usually goes. I commute from Long Island into Manhattan every morning, during what the media has been referring to as “the summer of hell” due to one of the Amtrak lines being repaired. Luckily, I haven’t had a problem with getting to work on time, but I do know people who have had to wake up extremely early just to sit in traffic for two hours every day. Once I get to work, I check my emails and distribute the mail to everyone on staff. Then, if I need to work on an assignment, I’ll be sure to do it. If I’m not writing, I’m usually helping the art department with social media metrics and editing pictures on Photoshop for the publication. I’ve also attended desk sides, fashion shoots, the test kitchen and events for the gift guide. I was even able to give my opinion at every editorial meeting. Every day in the office is a new one, and what I love about this industry is that every day is different.

 

I hope that ASME helps you clarify your career path into this industry as it did for me. My advice to future ASME interns who are pursuing a career in magazines is give this summer all you’ve got and remember to stay in touch with the close connections you make – it’ll definitely help you in the future. Most importantly, have a great time and come into work every day with a giant smile on your face.