If I could just end my internship with last night's Christmas party, by all means, I would do so in a heartbeat - not even because it's so challenging and I'm burnt out now that I'm very aware of how soon I get to home (A WEEK FROM TOMORROW!), not even because there's a BAJILLION things I want to re-visit (and sadly, so many things I want to visit for the first time still!) and I suddenly have come to the realization that despite counting down until when I go home, I haven't seen and done everything that I've had in mind just yet. Instead, it's because I'm not sure I could be anymore flattered by the compliments that I've been graced with this week, and I want to leave at the highest point I can reach.
So I should backtrack a bit first... Luckily (oh man, luckily) for myself, a new work experience student started this past week and will be there until I finish up this coming week. Which, although my first thought was of course (immaturely) "Aren't I enough?" Well, I wouldn't have been.. because as I'd expect no one in America should know (or even care to know) the Chancellor issued the pre-budget report this week... aka, this Wednesday (oh joy, I was lucky enough to work that day!) was CHAOTIC. We offered a 13-page feature on the section, and the editor sent us out to collect not 3, not 4, not even 5 interviews... BUT TWELVE. TWELVE?! Just to put in perspective, on a semi-controversial (moreso political than financial) question, it sometimes takes me a good two - two & a half hours to find someone appropriate for the slots. The PBR couldn't possibly be a more difficult question to ask individuals to comment on - adding the fact that we were sent out just an hour or so after the report was even announced. Unless everyone in the UK has SKYNEWS running 24/7 in their offices (which I doubt), I don't understand how the hell anyone would expect people to be experts on the issue just an hour after its release.
That being said, thank God I had a partner in crime this time... because after they had sent me out for a good hour, I had actually reached a point where I called my mom on the brink of crying. So, once I returned to the office exclaiming that it was more or less impossible - and after the other intern (a graduate student at a London university) returned with the same verdict - they sent us out together to see what would happen. We came back an hour or more later with six interviews, which to our extreme luck the editor had agreed on long before we had even collected six... and we left that night with lots of words of congratulations and gratitude from the entire newsroom staff. DEFINITELY an extremely difficult assignment. DEFINITELY.
So come Thursday, I was assigned two fairly challenging stories - both thankfully more politically and legally based - and the intern and I did the interviews together (in about an hour!) After submitting the second of my stories, my news editor turned around from a few desks over and said, "Alyssa! Excellent job on the **** story. Really nice work - very tight and crisp. Solid writing!" I felt so flattered and so humbled that the NEWS EDITOR was complimenting my writing.. I smiled and thanked him shyly and didn't think too too much about it, although it did send me home with an extra skip in my step.
Fast-forward to Friday where I worked in the features section - and even managed to goof up.. The office Christmas party was yesterday, but I assumed we weren't going since we technically work on Fridays. That being said, it was only about 3pm when (on an empty stomach) I shared a Christmas ale with the features editor and one of the reporters. Delicious stuff, but goodness did it hit me FAST. I barely had ANY but I suppose that's how it goes when you don't eat all day.
I didn't necessarily want to go to the party because I obviously don't know people as well as they know each other, not to mention there's the whole two papers, two projects and a final that I still have yet to accomplish. But I went, because I didn't want to come off as rude or uninterested... and I'm very glad that I did go (even if I was damn near drunk after just one strawberry daquiri). But while I was there, the deputy editor came up to me apologized for coming off as intimidating during my initial interview for the position - and proceeded to congratulate me and thank me, saying that had I not been willing "to dive in and put in the extra effort" it never would have worked out. I couldn't have been more flattered, even if I did try to play it off cooly.
Speaking of things that I tried to play off cooly... four $12 drinks later, I decided to head home before getting 45 minutes from the bar and realizing that my final exam notes were in a bag that I had left at the front of the bar. UGH.
Nevertheless, an awesome night.
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