As I sat quietly, I penned a quick text to my Uncle, detailing the life lessons I've recently learned from him.
1. Fake it til you make it. (Always walk like you know exactly where you're going, even if you don't)
2. Never pack more than you can carry. (Dry cleaners exist for a reason)
3. Sometimes you have to push your way through the crowd to get anywhere.
4. Dress the part.
5. If you walk the city, rather than drive it, you will get to know the city better.
6. Make friends everywhere, you never know when a friend could become an important contact or resource.
Little did I know I was about to put several of these lessons into play, along with a couple of added ones.
Sitting in my car, I checked my GPS quickly, to give me the direction I needed to walk in. Of course, I walked like I knew exactly where I was going. Once I spotted the Starbucks on the corner, I realized I indeed knew where I was. After a quick stop for some java, I saw my building. I didn't want to enter it this early, and of course I had time.
As I looked across the street I discovered a city square. The city square is named Fountain Square, for the obvious reasons, there's a fountain in the middle. The fountain is a large bronze statue called "The Genius of Water." Sitting there listening to the fountain, I felt the knot I had been swallowing start to dispel. I admired the building that my new office would be in, Carew Tower, a 49 story building, with French Art Deco architecture, that brags a mixture of offices, shops, and cafes.
Finally it was time to go in. As I approached the building I forced myself to breathe again. Stopping at the restroom to check my appearance again, I realized, my office is business casual, so I'm slightly overdressed, but dress the part right? Besides I want to stick out from the crowd. I walked the stairs to the second floor where my new office would be. (I know, big let down in such a tall building that boasts views of the city) After being ushered in, Sue, the editor of Cincinnati Magazine and the person who hired me showed me around, took me to my office and showed me how to log onto the Mac. (Mac!? another new experience) Then came the first assignment.
"Do you have any fact checking experience?" she asked
I was forced to admit that my only fact checking experience was my own research for school papers. After giving me a quick lesson, she introduced me to Kara, for my first assignment (editor of Cincinnati wedding, and Custom Publishing).
My first fact checking assignment wasn't horrible. I realized right then however; that city traffic is not the bane of my existence, commas are. See the thing with commas is in AP style there is a different rule than in good ole regular English. I really need to study these. I admit to using Google for simple questions such as, "how do you copy and paste on a Mac?" Remember that fake it til you make it lesson?
The first week went pretty much like that. I did fact checking. It might not seem interesting right off-hand, but I also know that learning from the ground up is important.I asked a ton of questions about how certain feature decisions happen. Through that conversation, I found out not only do I have something in common with my editor, but she has a friend that is an editor of a travel magazine. (Stored information for when I finish that Spain story) I found out I'm the first intern that has had grown up children. I actually managed to complete one assignment before I left the office for the week, and get ahead on a couple of others.
That gut-wrenched feeling I had at the beginning of the week is now gone. I know the next few months will bring challenges. Bouncing back and forth between two homes, two jobs, three kids and homework isn't going to be easy. I'm learning though, and based on the award I've seen hanging on the walls I'd say I'm learning from the best.
So here, I'm proposing that for the next few weeks I give you a glimpse into the city from the point of view of someone new. Rather than fight rush hour traffic on Wednesdays in an effort to rush back home to my boys, I plan to visit a new city spot and let traffic die down. So what would you like me to cover first?
