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Jump for WITS: My Experience as an Intern

Whether it was the hand of destiny that brought me here, or mere luck, as soon as I heard about an opportunity to work for Literary Arts, I jumped on it.  Then, I winded myself by jumping more when I received the phone call letting me know I had been chosen as one of their summer interns.  Even now, I sometimes have to fight the urge to jump like an excited little kid when I think about the work I am able to do.

Besides the fact that it has been good for my cardiovascular fitness, I believe that the experience of working here for a summer has been invaluable for me as a writer.  It has reinforced the belief that I have always held:  if you do what you love, the rest will fall into place.

I remember being discouraged earlier in the year when I was searching for a job, any job, related to my major.  Again and again, I came up with nada, zilch, nothing.  I kept wondering what an English major actually does.  A whole new world of possibilities has been opened to me, and I will be forever grateful to Literary Arts for doing this.

Not only have I been able to be a major part of the publishing process of the WITS Anthology, but I have become acquainted with many awesome people who are as passionate about literature as I am.  To me, there is nothing more noble than encouraging high school kids to exercise their creativity.  Maybe some of them will discover a love and a talent for writing just as I was able to.

Literary Arts trusted me with a great amount of freedom when they handed me an assignment to create an annual report for WITS.  I was given basic information to include and instructions to make it interesting and fun.  I was excited to utilize my creativity and push myself.  This was a learning experience, because I had no previous exposure to Adobe Indesign.  With the help of Kelly, the other WITS intern, and some good feedback, I completed the report!

The directions I was given to get to the office for my interview sum up perfectly my unique experience, “Go past Blue Hour, and you will see giant, silver doors.  Go through these, then up the stairs by the big, wooden beaver.  Then, use the red phone to call up to Literary Arts and someone will meet you.”  Although baffling at the time, as soon as I hung up the phone, I thought “Holy wow, this sounds like a cool place.”

Natalie Oaks, WITS Intern

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