By Sarah Dillard
November 13, 2015
Alexandria Merrill is a UAB senior originally from Birmingham who is currently interning at Good Grit magazine. After moving away when she was young, Alex decided to come back three years ago to go to UAB. She always knew that she wanted to be an English major, and “chose UAB because it was actually one of the only schools that had an undergrad program for professional writing in this area.” In the past, Alex worked at UAB student media as a features editor, she did some work for small, local businesses, and she has also worked in marketing. Even though Alex has had a lot of work experience, Good Grit is her first internship. Good Grit is a southern magazine based in Birmingham that wishes to share the rich culture of the South with the rest of the world. The magazine is very new, and has just recently released their third issue.
Alex found out about Good Grit magazine through her friend Peyton Chandler who was interning at Good Grit at the time. “He asked me to come in to meet with the editor about writing, they had a few stories that nobody wanted…he was like ‘could you please come in and meet with her and see if you would want to take these stories, we can’t find anyone else to take them.’”
Alex agreed and after the stories had gone to print, she decided that she needed to go back. “I was like the editor’s going to forget me. I was like one in however many writers that they have in like their freelance pool.
“They sent out a mass email saying that they were doing a writer’s round table and anybody interested in writing should come, and so I went…and while I was there she [the editor] was like ‘Hey, I remember you. I want you to apply for this internship.’ And so, it was really just a connection, you know, having a friend, getting a recommendation, and putting myself out there multiple times.”
After asking why she decided to apply for the internship, Alex said that, “I think that it is increasingly becoming my dream to make it as a freelance writer or an editor, and this seemed like the best opportunity to break into that.”
When asked about her internship with Good Grit, Alex said that, “Interning at a startup is so different from interning somewhere corporate, because you get so much more hands-on experience than you would if you were in a larger corporation setting.”
When I asked her what her favorite thing about interning at Good Grit was, she said, “One of my favorite things [about the internship] are the relationships that I’ve gotten through this experience. Not only with my fellow interns, but with my bosses at work.”
Internships are very rewarding; they are great for networking and for gaining job experience. Some people are misinformed about internships; you don’t just grab coffee and answer the phone. Professional writing internships are basically where you learn the inner workings of how articles are written, edited, and published. Internships require time and dedication.
“You definitely have to want to be there” Alex says, “and you have to be self motivated, because you’re not getting paid; you’re there for the experience, you’re there to learn everything that you can, and do as much as they’ll let you do.”
At UAB, you can either do a senior capstone or you can do a senior internship. Alex had already done the senior capstone last spring, so her internship at Good Grit doesn’t count for credit.
Alex decided to do an internship because she wanted to have experience in the career that she was going into. Without an internship, it can be hard to find a job. As it turns out, nobody wants to hire you if you don’t have any experience.
“Just so people know,” Alex said, “today I asked my editor if we could sit down and talk about my schedule for next semester…and while we were talking about everything, I got offered a job. Internships do go somewhere, and even if they had not offered me a job with them, I know that they would have given me a recommendation… I know that it’s everybody’s dream to get to graduation and know what they’re gonna be doing and I just really think that internships help with that.”
Everyone should try to do an internship. Internships are a great way to branch out and discover what you want to do for the rest of your life. They help you build connections that can last for a lifetime. Also, if you would like to apply for an internship at Good Grit, they do an internship cycle each semester; all you have to do is reach out and set up an interview.
