Merrick reflects on internship, looks forward to permanent role

Hey everyone. As you may or may not know, I have been an intern behind the scenes for the New Rockford Transcript for the past nine weeks. This internship has brought nothing but new and real world experiences, whether they were pleasurable or not.

I am a 2021 graduate of New Rockford-Sheyenne High School. I have recently completed my degree in graphic design and communications from Bismarck State College. After completing my degree it was very up in the air as to what my plan was after. I had done some small freelance projects for people but it was still unclear whether I wanted to find a full-time job or go back to school for my bachelor's degree. Ultimately early in the summer I happened to stumble across an opportunity at the New Rockford Transcript for a graphic design internship. The opportunity was everything I was looking for, close to home and in my field of work. I will not say if I was over-or under-qualified for the position, but after a portfolio showcase and an interview I received the news that I would be working for the Transcript starting June 26.

"The newspaper?" was a common question asked by friends and family about where I was working, which seemed way out of the ballpark of what I went to school for. However the Transcript's diversity in the work they do would surprise anyone, including me. I will also say the making of the newspaper isn't as boring as it may seem, and I have witnessed it firsthand to be one of the more stressful things I have worked on.

When I first started the internship, my ultimate goal for the summer was to try and gain more experience in my work field. Within the first two weeks I had my work cut out for me, as I was thrown into multiple projects out of the gate. As the weeks passed, I gained more responsibilities and the trust of my co-workers. I also completed an abundance of projects. This included anything from working layout of the newspaper and ads, to creating programs, layout of menus, taking photos at events, to the designing and printing of t-shirts by myself. I guess I can now also include the writing of a story for the paper as well.

Now obviously not all these things were done by myself. Yes I may have had somewhat more of an easy time, as I had experience with some of this stuff from college, but never to this big of a degree. Amy and the others have done their best to help and train me to work here and I am very grateful for their patience with me as I continue to learn the ins and outs of working here.

After all that, the question arises – have I reached my goal to gain more experience within my work field? To that I would say my expectations were far surpassed. The Transcript has allowed me to work on all of my technical skills in InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop with real-world projects. With this also came real-world problems, which I had my fair share of throughout the nine weeks of working here. This has gone from anywhere from not knowing how to set up a certain page in the newspaper, to problems that were out of anyone's control. However, if this job has taught me anything, it was how to deal with these problems. Every week the deadline to make the paper comes with different situations and headaches, and every week I watched firsthand how to solve them in different creative ways. They have helped me take a leap in all of my skills and will only continue to.

Growing up I think every kid dreamed of being a professional sports player, whether that was basketball, football or countless other sports. In all reality though not everyone will make the select cut, but still the passion stays with them and that is the same with me. I love watching and talking about sports with friends and family. Which is why my dream job would be to work with a professional sports team as a graphic designer. I have always liked how design and photography have been portrayed throughout different sports media. Being able to help capture the moment is just one way to help the little kid inside of me keep the passion and dream alive. With the Transcript I hope to develop my skills so eventually one day I'll be able to pursue this career.

The final question arising: what I am going to do after the internship? At the start of the summer I was quite unsure, and as always would leave the problem with my future self. As the weeks went on, more questions from family and myself about my future kept piling on. Thankfully those questions were resolved quite quickly, as I was blessed to be given an opportunity of a full-time position at the Transcript. I'm grateful for the opportunity to continue to work and grow my skills here now that my internship has ended. As for the foreseeable months, I only hope for my skills to increase as I gain more responsibilities, so if there is a problem in the newspaper, it may or may not be my fault. I am excited for all of the big things coming and hope to help document and capture the special moments for my hometown of New Rockford.