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A Student Perspective article by Sophie Torres
For many students, the path from classroom learning to professional work can feel opaque, even overwhelming. In this new series, senior Sophie Torres pulls back the curtain.
Over three articles, Sophie will take us behind-the-scenes of her experience in the Publishing Certificate Program (PCP) and the Humanities Internship Program at CCNY, offering an honest, step-by-step look at what it takes to secure and succeed in a competitive internship. Sophie is currently interning at PEN America for the full Spring semester and will be giving us updates along the way. Enjoy this first installation of her internship journey!
When I applied to college as a sprightly seventeen-year-old, I had no idea what I was doing—as is usual for most seventeen-year-olds. I applied to CCNY because it was a CUNY school, and in my sporadic research I found that it was much cheaper than any other options that could take me outside of Florida. Not long after I had been accepted and committed for enrollment, I was packing my childhood belongings into U-Haul boxes. If what I wanted was a push, then I certainly got it.
The years that ensued were a chaotic mashing of growing into adulthood while still making mistakes and having the most fun a newly twenty-year-old can have. Like many of my peers, I began my freshman year undecided; in more senses than just my major. However, I was pleased to find that sometimes even when you think nothing could go right—sometimes especially when you think nothing could go right—you fall exactly where you were meant to. I walked out of my freshman year an English major, and I walked out of sophomore year as part of the Publishing Certificate Program (PCP).
I had already known that the final requirement in PCP is an internship in the industry, so I’m not sure why it took me by such surprise when the head of the program, Athena Devlin, stepped into my English class the first semester of Senior year. She came mostly to talk to prospective PCP students, however, she slipped in a reminder for upcoming and current Seniors that if we hadn't yet applied for Spring internships we should do so ASAP. Immediately after class I scoured my inbox for any and all information regarding internship applications; looking through the slew of emails felt like a job in and of itself. To my utter disappointment, all but two internship deadlines had passed, and so with little hope I started the dreaded “internship process.”
I had heard of this process from ambitious friends who had applied for many internships and fellowships throughout our four years in college; I felt late to the game. During some more email ransacking, I came across an internship opportunity with a non-profit called PEN America. While not a direct publishing house, they are known in the industry as “publishing adjacent,” meaning they don't publish titles the way Simon & Schuster or Penguin Random House would. They are an organization that works to defend writers, artists, and journalists and protect free expression worldwide. So, while they don't produce physical books themselves, they work directly with authors and outside publishers. The role available would be within their prison and justice writing program, which intrigued me. The program seemed very different from the other publishing opportunities the PCP had previously offered. This division of PEN works directly with incarcerated writers, publishing their work in an annual anthology and offering cash prizes for top winners. As if the position didn't seem enticing enough, it is funded by CCNY’s Division of Humanities Internship Program. Because of this, the position was reserved for only CCNY students, which provided me with a beacon of hope. In order to apply I had to first meet with the Director of Humanities Internships, Dr. Marisa Hollywood...
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