Interning at The News-Herald is anything but consistent...in the most positive way, of course. 

The excitement building up to these two weeks was probably not even enough now that I look back and see what I've done in just two and a half days. 

Journalism is such an interesting thing for me to start with, but to see just what goes into a daily paper is crazy, and it makes my monthly school paper look like the easiest thing in the world. 

First arriving, I met a girl who was also shadowing here named Jordyn, and even though she's not here to say, having her has been a real treat. 

It also helps that I'm not the only young high school kid who doesn't know the first thing about the professional world besides the "Take Your Child to Work Day" events my mother used to take me to.

On Monday after meeting Jordyn, the two of us went to the Grand River with writer Matthew Skrajner. There's something about hearing news first that makes me feel powerful, and Matt did a wonderful job in making sure we understood what we were doing; he even gave us the opportunity to ask questions if we had any. 

That is the type of internship I was looking for when I went on the search in January for my senior project opportunity. 

The next day, Tuesday was totally different than Monday. 

 Less overwhelmed with new names and introductions, I was able to do a little more on my own. I sat in on a meeting and learned about how planning works here. 

I also gave some suggestions on what could possibly be updated in a later issue, which was fun. I actually felt like I had a voice, and if you knew me, I love to have a voice! 

Now we enter today, Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Jordyn and I sat at a breakfast at about 8 this morning with some of the bloggers in the community, who are on the News-Herald website. This morning, I questioned my motives all the way from my house in Novelty to the office. 

When I got here, however, I was glad I managed to crawl out of bed at six this morning. 

Because of the fact that Jordyn and I were there early, we even were allowed to film and write the NH Newsbreak! How cool is that?! I'll be honest, I'm way proud of the good job we did with that. It took a few tries before we stopped laughing, but in the end we both buckled down and got the job done. Though it's only two and a half days of my internship, I'm having the time of my life. Everyone I've met has been incredibly nice and I don't have a single complaint yet, and that's a miracle for me!

 - Maria Franchina