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One Entity Mentorship writer shares how Entity damned her perfectionist ways.

This Nebraska girl can thank Entity magazine for her harrowing personal experiences with Los Angeles traffic.

As a starry-eyed new intern for the Orange County Register’s opinion page, I was terrified to dive into politics and newswriting, but I was also pretty confident. So when my editor introduced me to Jennifer for another writing gig with Entity, I was stoked.

I said, “Oh, sure, I can handle that. I’ll drive up to L.A. from Irvine a couple days a week, chat with the lovely interns, write a few pieces about my complicated relationship with feminism. No big thang.”

Then I met the California freeways, and I found that my summer was going to be a lot less free-wheeling than I thought it would be. The first two hours on the freeway taught me that, and I had plenty of time to reflect on it afterward.

But once I finally found a parking space in the ever-more-popular L.A. arts district, I found a group of women who, though I only worked with them part time, were always welcoming, helpful, and willing to discuss their ideas. They’re pretty great, and I look forward to reading about their lives for a long time to come.

Throughout my internship, I also had the chance to build my confidence and productivity as a writer – I’m a die-hard perfectionist, but writing for Entity taught me not to hold back for fear that the words will sound wrong. Perfectionism be damned; I had to finish my work – and high-quality, publishable work, too – before my evening battle with rush hour traffic.

Writing for Entity allowed me to master new topics (where else could I write about Jane Austen, the Japanese economy, and the woes of the 2016 presidential election all in the same day?), writing about them furiously, and pulling into my driveway at night with a sense of accomplishment.

Thanks, Entity, for the soul-searching that happens at five miles an hour on a roasting California freeway. You taught me humility and confidence in the form of ten thousand words a week – and about as many cars in my way on the drive home.

 

 

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