Internship

This spring I began the pursuit of finding an internship for the summer. Journalism majors are required by the School of Journalism to complete 240 internship hours before being able to graduate. I figured now was the time to get this done if I wanted to graduate with my class next year.

Portfolios were assembled and mailed out to almost every newspaper in western Montana. I didn’t know where my path would lead but as long as I could get quality reporting experience it didn’t matter where I went.

It didn’t take long before the Missoulian expressed interest in having me as a summer intern. I was excited to work for a large newspaper and it was my hope to do stories on a variety of topics.

Things got underway three weeks ago and I really had no idea what to expect. I just decided to take things as they came and report to the best of my abilities. The experience has been fantastic and everybody at the paper has been extremely kind to me.

The range of stories I’ve covered has been quite astonishing. Some of the stories I’ve done include: a new UM scholarship, naming a peak in Glacier National Park for a former employee, the Missoula Moose Lodge turning 100 and a high profile embezzlement case.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to interview a local sailor who is deployed on the USS George Washington in the Pacific Ocean. Everyday definitely brings something different to my desk and I love the surprise each story provides.

I’ll be posting my articles here weekly after getting the first few weeks up.

There is much ahead this summer in addition to my internship. I have a few road trips planned with the first taking me to the Vancouver Pug Gathering at the end of July. Hopefully if all works out, I’ll be North Dakota bound sometime in August.

Stay tuned and I’ll do my best with keeping my updates current.

Mark