Don't fear rejection

Planning, flexibility, dedication and hard work. Young journalists must develop these traits when it comes to internships.

When I arrived at Eastern Illinois University all of my planning went toward becoming a sportswriter. I wrote down what I thought it would take to get there. I figured a gig as sports editor was imperative. I also wanted to be editor-in-chief at some point and achieved that goal.

I worked hard for a long time. I built my resume to the point where I received two job offers and two internship offers before I graduated in December. This while the the industry is in a rough spot.

But the point of this blog is not what I have done, it's how I have done it. As part of my oft-revised and sometimes overly fluid plan, I knew internships were a big deal to employers. They want to know that you know how to act in a professional newsroom. And many newspapers don't feel that, once you graduate, it's their responsibility to teach you about the workings of a newsroom. And they're right.

It's really your responsibility to do everything you can during college to make yourself a viable candidate in today's journalism environment. After three years, I did three internships. Because of this, I am now on my fourth internship, this one with the Associated Press in Des Moines, Iowa.

Resources and opportunities are out there, but you have to truly want to be a journalist to find them. You cannot continuously claim that "I have no time" or "I have no chance." In my last blog, I mentioned that you just don't know what will happen if you don't go for it. I interviewed a few times for the AP through the years. Every time I was rejected, I felt horrible. But I knew it was part of the field: You must be humble enough to accept rejection while keeping confident and dedicated enough to keep on trying.