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ENTITY taught me more than just writing skills as a mentee.

How does one become a better writer? Are they taught? Do they learn from experience? Are they already born with talent?

I don’t know. I truly don’t.

But ENTITY promised that by the end of its Academy I’d be a better writer, so I just took their word for it. I applied, I got in and I got to work.

Now, 7 weeks later, I’m noticing that while I’ve certainly grown as a writer, I’ve built other skills simultaneously. Not only have I become a better writer, I’ve gained skills that will make me more competitive as I seek writing and editorial jobs. They’ve created a multi-functional, journalistic boss.

A Search Engine Optimizing Machine

Prior to arriving at ENTITY, I had no idea what SEO even was. Search engine optimization was hardly a thought when I would type up an article for my previous publication. During my first week at this internship, though, Angelica Pronto practically taught a master class in how to drive traffic through SEO.

All the buzzwords were thrown at me: SERPs, keywords, volume, etc. I learned how to utilize software and brainstorm the perfect keyword that people would use to search so that my articles could place higher on Google searches.

It’s almost ridiculous that I was trying to write quality content before I knew this information, but ENTITY knew how to prioritize SEO in this academy. I was writing three articles a day based on SEO keywords, and then I was developing my own keywords to use as a basis.

Queen of Adobe Photoshop and Friends

I like to think I am a talented writer. My artistic skills lay in curating the written word into a prosaic masterpiece (I tried really hard in that sentence as you can probably tell).

Either way, I just know my talents — and the visual arts are not included in that skill set. Therefore when I heard we’d become proficient in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign over the course of the Academy, I figured ENTITY’s mentors were biting off more than they could chew.

However, Chrissie and Erin gave very coherent instructions and templates that helped me to learn anyone can become an Adobe virtuoso with a little dedication to basics. Once I understood the tools and techniques behind the actual software, my fellow interns and I were creating memes, resumes and illustrations that looked as though seasoned graphic artists had worked on them. I’d always wanted to be able to make my own memes, so I felt incredibly empowered.

The hard skills I learned in this internship went beyond simply turning me into a better writer. Of course the writing was intensive, and the instruction was useful on that front. But I picked up so many other skills that to call this a writing internship would be selling its value short.

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