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Entity reports on learning new skills.

Although Entity is defined as “independent, separate, or self-contained existence”, my summer at Entity has been defined by cramped cars full of laughter, lunches in the sunshine telling weekend stories, and valuable bonds stronger than LinkedIn connections. Together we took L.A. road trips and S.D. plane rides; we visited photography museums and watched modern ballet performances; we became hikers and sushi chefs. Yet behind the Instagram-worthy experiences were the rise-and-grind 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours where 40* women worked tirelessly to research concepts, develop ideas, and craft content for a launching platform. Sure, our time in the office wasn’t always easy ride, but the challenges we faced along the way built us into strong writers and #WomenThatDo.

Here are three ways Entity challenged me, and how I learned to adapt:

1 tO BROADEN MY EXPERTISE

From day one, we were all asked what we wanted to write about. While the majority of my articles fit my interests, I would find assignments in my inbox that made me want to tear my hair out. Those pieces would send me down a spiral of Internet research that I wasn’t sure could dig myself out of. Yet by the end of my internship, I learned to embrace the oddball articles. These topics challenged my pre-existing knowledge and granted me the freedom to explore subjects I would never tackle on my own. I may not have walked away from every article wanting to be a scientist or economist, but delving into this material expanded my mind and gave me a few pieces of trivia to use at parties.

2 tO ALTER MY WRITING STYLE

I’m no stranger to writing: I started my first novel at age 10, aced the writing portion of the SAT, and served on the executive board of my college newspaper. I may have notebooks full of poems and stacks of A+ term papers, but I only knew two styles of journalism: personal essays and news articles. My writing was either drenched in opinioned details or constrained by objective facts. Entity’s voice is different than either of those – the content mixes expert sources with bursts of soul. I had to find stable footing between stories and news. After some practice I learned to balance quippy Internet writing with extensive research to create engaging – and accurate – articles.

3 TO ADJUST MY EXPECTATIONS

With start-ups come excitement, opportunity, and a whole lot of change. During the internship, change was a common theme. Dates would swap; goals would shift. Times of uncertainty trapped some tension into the office walls. My time at Entity tested my limits, forcing me to exercise flexibility. When I felt my patience wearing thin, I had to remind myself that start-ups are just starting up; they require room for error and improvement in the publication’s development. Any stress or disappointment was necessary to be apart of the beautiful – and messy – process of launching a start-up magazine. Sure, interning at Entity may have been challenging, but it was a damn good challenge to have had.

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