Final Blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I first signed up for my internship this summer at EarthScope Media, I felt a little daunted. The program was designed to provide work experience in radio journalism--something I hadn't tried before. I was only used to the print journalism of my school paper; and even then, because of my shyness, I hadn't interviewed anyone but my mom for stories. Naturally I was terrified to hear that my EarthScope supervisor would schedule me interviews with some of the most relevant scientists and environmentalists of today.

 I was still pretty shy in my first recorded conference call with a woman whose studies of trees had earned her global attention, but after two more interviews I had developed some courage. I had learned how to steer an interview to make my guest give more compelling statements. I had been assured that although I was decades younger than the people at the other end of the line, I could still converse with them. These realizations helped me yesterday when I conducted my first in-person interview alone with a wildlife ecologist at Point Reyes. The ecologist was sensitive about how over half of the herd of Tule elk he was managing had died recently, but I was able to take interesting quotes from him without hurting his feelings. Two weeks before, I would have steered clear from an interview this delicate. 

The CPA classes emphasized people skills, especially extroversion. Mr. Morales explained how important it was to connect with supervisors and employees, and I'm glad I took this to heart. Though I'm normally pretty introverted, I tried more than usual to develop a rapport with my boss, coworkers and some of the people I interviewed. These connections should prove useful to my career ambitions, whether or not I pursue a job in journalism. 

And, of course, I'm glad that I did something this summer besides watching Orange Is the New Black.