ShelbiCrews

August5th,2015
InternshipEvaluation
ENC4942
Asacreditrequirement,andfortheunbeatable
experience,IenrolledinthesummerEditing,Writing,and
Mediainternshipcourse.DuringthecourseofmySpring
Semester,mycareerplanstookadrasticchangefromNews
MediatoHumanResources,asIwasofferedapositionasa
SpecialistfortheUnitedParcelService.Iwantedto
ensure,whenchoosinganinternshipopportunity,thatImake
themostofnotonlymyeditingandwritingskills,butthat
Ichosesomethingthatwouldprovidebeneficialexperience
formyfuturecareer.
Ireflectedbackonprioremploymentinvolvementsand
decidedtosuggestaninternshipopportunitytoaformer
employee,tonotonlybenefitthemwhereIsawalaginthe
business,buttogivemyselftheadvantageofexperience.I
wasformerlyemployedatadaycarecenter,knownasThe
ClyattHouseLearningCenter,inChiefland,FL.Chieflandis
myhometown,butdespitebeingtwohoursaway,Iknewthat
myinternshipopportunitywouldbenefitthesmallbusiness
ownersignificantly.
ThedirectorandowneroftheClyattHousehiredall
employeespersonallyandtreatedeachofthemasfamily,as
shedidthechildrenineachofherfiveclassrooms.Iknew
frompriorexperiencethatrelationshipswithstudentsand
parentswereanintegralpartofherbusiness.Isuggested
thattoimprovetheserelationships,Iwritenewsletters
informingparentsofwhatexperiencesandactivitiestake
placeintheirchildsclassroom.
Inordertocompletethistask,Iwasrequiredtomeet
witheachoftheteachersfortheVoluntaryPreSchool,Pre
school,Toddler,Oneyearold,andTwoyearoldteachersto
discusstheplannedactivitiesfortheupcomingweek.I
usuallyhadtheteachersprovidemewithabriefoverview,
andfromthereIwouldconstructaneasilynavigatedand
understoodnewslettertobedistributedtotheparentsof
theappropriatestudentsonMonday.Myintentionswiththese
newslettersweretoinvolveparentandguardiansinthelife
oftheirchildduringtheirschoolhours.Asmanyparents,
werefastpacedandunabletohangaroundafterpickuptime
todiscusswiththeteachereverydetailofclasstime,
thesenewslettersprovidedaneasilyaccessiblemeansof

communication.Thisallowedtheparentstorelatetotheir
childaftertheirschooldaybyhavingtheabilitytonow
initiateconversation.
ThenewslettersIwroteforthedaycarewerenotas
detailedordescriptiveasIwouldhavepreferred.Mostof
thetime,theteachershadonlyprovidedafewsentencesand
alunchmenuandreliedonmetocreatetherestfrommy
head.Iwouldhavelikedtospendmoretimeoneach
individualletter.Astheteachersusuallydidnotfinish
lessonsplansuntiltheThursdaybeforeeachweek,Iwas
onlygivenafewdaystoconstructandemailbacktothe
directorofthedaycareforapproval.Everythingworked
withinatightdeadline.Ialsodidnothaveaccessto
graphicssotheywerenotparticularlyeyecatching.Iused
aWordTemplatethathadbeenapprovedpriortothefirst
newsletterIwrote.
Myworkenvironmentcausedatremendousstrainonthe
jobaswell,duetothedistancebetweenmyhomeoffice
andthephysicallocationofthedaycare.Ideally,Iwould
havelikedtoofpersonallymetwitheachteacherand
assistantteachersothatwecouldconcisethelettersdown
torelevantinformation,andallowtheinformationtobe
moredetailed,ratherthanmejusthavingtoguesswhich
partsoftheteachersnoteswereimportantenoughto
includeintheweeklynewsletter.
Astheinternshipprogressed,Ibegantogainan
interestinnotonlytheparentstudentteacher
relationship,butalsothemanagementstaffrelationshipas
well.BeingaformeremployeeoftheClyattHouseLearning
Center,Ihadbeenrequiredtoreadthroughalong,drawn
outEmployeeHandbook.Thetexthadseemeddifficultto
interprettomefrommyfirstattemptatreadingit,soI
suggestedtomysupervisorthattheyallowmetopickthe
textapartandpreformadetailededittoensureitwas
readerfriendly.Overthecourseofthesummer,Iwasonly
abletoworkthroughaportionofthetext.
Again,thetimefromforthisprojectwasextremely
limiting.Ibecameinterestintheeditingportionofthe
internshipaftertakingEditingdocumentsandmanuscripts,
duringthefirstsummerexpresssession.Itwasduringthis
classthatIrealizedIhadaslightknackforediting.I
enjoyed,andfeltextremelysuccessful,atensuringthe
employeehandbookwasintheactivevoice,ratherthanthe
passivevoice.Generally,IfeelasthoughIdidanadequate
jobontheportionofthehandbookIwasabletoedit,andI

intendoncompletingtheworkIbegantoallowthedaycare
toconsideritforreprintinganddistributingtoemployees.

Overthecourseofmyinternship,Ilearnedthat
workingwithintimelinesisanextremelydifficultpartof
editingandwritingwork.Balancingthetasksofthejob,
gatheringinformation,andproducingsomethingmeaningful
wasachallengeinandofitsown.Ialsolearnedthatthe
wayinformationispresentedtoapersonhasagreatimpact
onhowtheinformationisperceived.
Newsletterwordcount:4,168
CompletedEditingwordcount:3,035words