As I bid farewell to my college internship and step into a new role closer to home, I feel reflective, happy, and so, so grateful. This internship with the Jewish Observer Nashville has been anything but ordinary.
First off, I’m a native East Coaster living in D.C. I have received many a question about my Maryland area code when I call Nashville sources from a time zone one hour ahead. Secondly, I don’t come from a Jewish background and have never even been to a bar or bat mitzvah. So I’m way out of my realm.
I was lucky enough to have worked with my editor, Barbara Dab, for the past year and a half. She made the job easy. The best thing about working remotely for Barbara was that I was never bombarded with meetings — I loathe meetings, especially ones that could be an email. She was very understanding of my full course load at American University and was flexible with deadlines.
It was the highlight of my summer getting to meet Barbara in person last month at the American Jewish Press Association’s annual conference in Nashville. I excitedly gave her a huge hug and chatted with my colleagues with no clue that in mere hours, I’d meet my new boss.
I was checking my phone in between conference sessions and felt someone come up to me. I hurriedly put my phone down, thinking someone was coming to chastise me, but it was the CEO of Mid-Atlantic Media, Craig Burke: “Hey, you’re from D.C., right?”
Surprised that he remembered my brief introduction from earlier, I said yes, I was.
“I want you to come over for a minute and meet the editor of the Washington Jewish Week.”
I was stunned. After 22 job applications had either been ignored or rejected my last semester, I had mentally prepared myself for another summer working in food service. I couldn’t believe my ears. I walked to the next table over, still not fully grasping what was going on.
The three of us had a pleasant conversation — we quickly realized that Craig lives in my hometown and I was in his youngest son’s graduating class in high school — that ended in an interview offer.
A week after Craig and I flew back on the same flight (yet another small world moment!), my dad drove me to the Columbia, Maryland office for my job interview in mid-June — two or three weeks out of college, I didn’t have a car.
Long story short: I got the job. And I only got it thanks to Barbara, who nominated some of my Observer pieces for a Simon Rockower Award and arranged for my stay in Nashville.
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I started at the Observer as a junior in college and now I’m post-grad, sitting at my new office desk in business casual attire. That’s a long way from the 10 p.m. writing sessions I did from my bed or the couch for the Observer!
Through this reporting internship, I’ve written a cover story, spoken to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war, covered how Nashvillians celebrated Pride amid Tennessee’s anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and profiled Ethiopian-Israeli singer-songwriter Aveva.
I will forever cherish the memories of my time reporting in Nashville. Through this small monthly newspaper, I was able to talk to dozens of community members and leaders – I never knew the true meaning of “community” until I became acquainted with Jewish Nashville.
I am now a staff writer for Mid-Atlantic Media, and my primary duty is to report locally for the Washington Jewish Week. I write about five or six stories a week, which I’ve learned to publish from the back end, and I’ve even picked up a couple stories for a parenting publication! (Mid-Atlantic Media owns 12 publications; some are Jewish local news and others are family- or lifestyle-related.)
Although working for a weekly newspaper requires me to write exponentially more than I’m used to, and interview nine people a week, I’m loving it. The job is not 100% what I had in mind, but it’s a dream come true for this 22-year-old who’s dreamed of being a writer since third grade. Thank you, Barbara, Jewish Nashville, the Observer and anyone who’s reading these words right now. I couldn’t have done this without you.
Keep up with my writing by visiting washingtonjewishweek.com, where I’ll be covering Jewish news in my home state and the nation’s capital.