By Serena Stauffer

The past two years, I’ve watched my older brother and many friends get internships and work at them during the summer months and now it’s finally my turn. I’ve been lucky enough to get an internship with The Clarkston News and I plan to soak in all that I can while working with the experienced staff in the office on Main Street.
I’m a junior at Loyola University Chicago pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor’s Degree in English/Creative Writing. My journalism major requires me to complete an internship and the first place I thought of contacting was The Clarkston News.
As a Clarkston native, I grew up picking up the newspaper from the mailbox; when I was younger I would “read” it by looking at the pictures. Once I learned how to actually read, it became my weekly tradition to read all the different stories when I got home from school. And now, to think I’ll get the chance to write some of my own pieces to be published in the paper, and some other little girl might possibly read them, is crazy in the best way.
I know this opportunity with The Clarkston News will offer me a unique look into the world of journalism. It’s no bustling and hectic high-rise news office, but I’ve already come to appreciate the quiet and warm atmosphere the office offers. I know this is the best place for me to begin my journalism career. The only prior experience I have with journalistic writing is through the classes I’ve taken the past two years at Loyola, so I’m excited to be able to apply all I’ve learned in a more hands-on way at a published and well-known paper.
It’s been said Chicago during the summer is not a time to miss and while I do love the city I’ve come to call home during the school year, as someone with 20 summers spent in Clarkston, I can say our summer here is not one to miss either. From concerts at DTE and the Fourth of July parade to nights spent getting breadsticks from Gregg’s or ice cream from Dairy Dream, there’s so much to do and see and this year, I get to see it all from behind a reporter’s notebook and camera lens.
My summer is going to be one full of deadlines, snapping photo, transcribing interviews and so much more, and I can’t wait to see the journalist I become by the end of it all.