Brian Wilensky: Bylines Key to Success

From cover stories to your ordinary byline, Brian Wilensky has kept himself busy since leaving Kutztown University in 2011. This KUPW ’11 alumnus is working his way towards a staff writing position by grinding out article after article. With a recent cover story article released by Philly Beer Scene, it seems his hard work is beginning to payoff.

“You just have to get bylines to your name,” Wilensky said.

Much of Wilenksy’s success stems from the KU writing program ‘forcing’ him to get an internship. He credits this as one of KU’s better aspects of the Professional Writing Program. City Paper in Philadelphia gave him the opportunity to work for them as an internship. His efforts translated to much more than a handful of bylines. Ultimately, the connections he utilizes today are often due to his relationships he built at the City Paper.

While at the City Paper, Wilensky mainly focused on music writing. His work was done well-enough that he is continually asked to come back and write more. In April, he had a story released in their April 24 issue about a band named Woods. Wilensky may have found his niche, which is evident when he describes this bands album in his article. “Starting simply, with a lap steel guitar melody and crisp snare-drum brushing, opening number “Shepherd” evokes feelings of standing amid tall prairie grasses instead of subways and smokestacks.” Wilensky clearly has a distinct understanding of music and it shows through his writing, an excellent attribute to have.

Other music writing he does was earned from connections he gained from his internship. There are a couple other music publications that he submits to, WXPN’s The Key and Jump: The Philly Music Project. For The Key, like much of the other freelance work he does, Brian has complete control of what he writes. For some this can prove very difficult, but Wilensky seems to have knack for it. A couple recent articles for The Key had him following a band for one of their gigs and another dealt with concerts he missed that he wished he had seen. Excellent ideas, but they don’t stop there. For Jump Magazine, he wrote about a psychedelic rock band named the Needle Points. He describes their sound as “lo-fi simplicity”. This is a phrase I would have never thought up, I suppose I don’t have the musical ear. Yet, when I listen to their music, I completely understand Wilensky’s description.

Though Brian focuses much of his work on music, he is not limited to this type of writing. After submitting a piece called ‘Is Brewing a Science or an Art?’ to the Beer Scene Magazine, they enjoyed it so much that they placed it on the cover of their latest edition. Despite writing it in January, the article still managed to find its way to the cover of the magazine in April.

Brian’s experience with freelance writing has made him much more determined to become a staff writer. Take his Beer Scene article for example. Eventually the editor’s found it to be well enough to publish, but this was nearly four months after writing the piece. This also means Brian will not get paid until four months after writing the article. It’s difficult to make a living being a freelance writer.

Before parting ways with Brian, I asked him what KU might have provided him to better enhance his writing capabilities. I was surprised by his answer, because through reading his articles, he seems to have an excellent grasp of this concept.

“I wish they would have taught interviewing better,” Wilensky said. “Here’s your lead and put your quote in, Journalism 101 stuff you know.”

As it seems, Brian has done well adapting to his own interviewing techniques. It just takes a matter of practice. The KU Professional Writing Program wishes Brian nothing, but luck and we hope he continues to earn cover stories for his exceptional work. Take a look at some of Brian Wilensky’s articles below from the several publications he is featured in.

Brian Wilensky’s Work

Woods’ new album is dark, deep and worthy of repeated listens | City Paper
http://citypaper.net/article.php?Woods-new-album-is-dark-deep-and-worthy-of-repeated-listens-20191

Needle Points: Positive Vibrations. | JUMP
http://jumpphilly.com/2014/04/22/needle-points-positive-vibrations/

The Key’s guide to your Record Store Day shopping spree | The Key
http://thekey.xpn.org/2014/04/15/the-keys-guide-to-your-record-store-day-shopping-spree/

 

No Finer Felo

While in route to becoming the next Buster Olney, we caught up with Bill Felo, KUPW ’13, to ask him for an update on his journey to becoming a sports journalist. Though he has gained sufficient experience to date, he is still eager to do more and work his way to the position he knows is possible for him to achieve.

After leaving KU, Felo acquired a job as a sports clerk for the Sun in Hummelstown, PA. It was his understanding, to become a successful journalist, you must start from the bottom and work your way up. Unfortunately, the advancement process can be much more tedious and unrewarding than expected. Though he enjoyed his work as a sports clerk, he often wasn’t given the opportunity to write as much as he desired.

“It was cool to get into a newsroom and see how everything works behind the scenes,” Felo explained. “However, the position I had was not ideal because it was not that writing intensive. Overall, I am happy that I had the position for the experience, especially in the sports writing field.”

As a sports clerk, he was occasionally given the opportunity to write, but it was hardly a main priority of the position. Looking up statistics and checking facts were his responsibilities. Coming up with creative content was not his duty. Therefore, he felt the job wasn’t suitable for his aspirations.

Despite not being on the payroll, he still contributes and works with the Sun. Currently, he is covering a legion baseball team in the area. Though his job isn’t writing intensive just yet, he is grateful he has the opportunity to write.

Felo left KU having served three years as the assistant editor of the sports section of the Keystone. This experience and his diverse writing classes prepared him for what he hopes to be a prosperous writing career. The classes he contributes to his comfortableness writing for the Sun are writing for public relations, journalism, and technical writing. Whereas Marianella Orlando enjoyed the diversity of the program to figure out her future aspirations, Felo would have rather focused more on journalism writing. It’s been his passion for some time to be a sports writer. If he could have focused on journalism, he felt he would have been better prepared. Still, he feels confident in his abilities.

With his work for the Sun being relatively part-time now, Felo has extensive plans to further his writing capabilities and his presence in the writing community. By working with others from KU, he plans to begin a blog dedicated to sports stories. The way he sees it, Bill Simmons created Grantland from a WordPress blog. The blog Crossing Broad is currently looking for writers to pay. This must mean they are making money.

Felo says, “People hire writers for blogs, so there must be a way to make money off of this. I’ve seen some terrible writing and blogs that would make people cringe, but they have an entire staff. I’d rather put stock in myself, and hope for the best. There’s nothing better than being your own boss.”

The KU Professional Writing program wishes Bill Felo the best of luck. Undoubtedly, we know you have the capability of being the next great sports journalist. Good luck!

Columbia Bound

Marianella Orlando, KUPW ’13, is off to Columbia University this coming July to earn her master’s degree in Journalism. Our determined alumna doesn’t plan to stop there either. After a 10-month program to earn her master’s, she intends to embark on a three to four year program to earn a PhD in Communications. All the more rewarding to Orlando, people outside the KU walls had never expected her to have a chance with a B.A. from KU. Little do they understand it’s not the degree that matters; it’s the person who earns the degree that makes all the difference in the world.

“People would look down on me,” Orlando said. “Just because you went to Temple or wherever, doesn’t mean you’ll do better than me. Honestly, where you get your B.A. doesn’t matter nearly as much as some would think. Look at us now, people have the same job and went to ‘better’ schools. I love that I went to KU, and have no regrets.”

Of course Orlando has no regrets; her journey has led her to an Ivy League in Manhattan. Going to Columbia has been a dream of Marianella’s since junior of high school. Initially, Marianella had not expected that she would get into Columbia. In high school, she didn’t even try, despite her desire to go there. She explained how she wasn’t elected to any of the editorial positions at her high school, and those who were went to Columbia for a visit. This motivated her to become a better writer and achieve her goal in the future.

While attending KU, Orlando served as the Editor-in-Chief for The Keystone newspaper. In her humble opinion, this experience improved her chances to become a Columbia student. That’s partly the reason she came to KU. Other universities she looked at for writing were Seton Hall University and Rutgers University, but these universities did not have the program she had wanted. KU was diverse enough that she had the opportunity to discover what type of style she wanted to write.

“I want to write magazines,” Orlando explained. “Particularly, I think it’d be cool to create my own magazine. There is one in California geared towards vegetarians, but only one that I know of. You’d expect there to be more, you know? That’s the lifestyle I live; it’s only natural to want to write about things like that.”

Apart from her education, Marianella can’t wait to live in the Big Apple. She’s not singing Jim Croce’s tune ‘New York’s Not My Home’ just yet. Quite the opposite, to live in the city is a dream of hers. Essentially, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere is the mentality she is heading to New York with. While looking for assistant editor positions in the area, she realizes this is a huge opportunity that cannot be squandered.

Orlando explains, “It’s New York City, if you can make it there, you can do anything. Living the will bring me that much closer to my dreams. It’s not like you see magazines coming from North Dakota.”

Besides the excitement of the city, food is another priority for Orlando. Options are nearly infinite as far as cuisine is concerned in the ‘big city’. This will hopefully, launch some ideas for her future vegetarian magazine. It’s tough to live a place where the ideal meal is a cheesesteak. Even so, Marianella will miss Philadelphia and the sports teams she has fallen in love with. She despises the teams from NY, but I suppose those are some of the difficulties you face when moving. Not the biggest problem, obviously money is a concern too, but she plans to handle these complications one by one. As of now, her mind is on one thing; making those who helped her from KU proud and achieving the dreams she has set for herself. We wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors and have the utmost confidence that she will make every KU alumni proud to be a Golden Bear.

Top-10 Movies About Writers: 1-5 (Spoiler Alerts!)

5. Seven Psychopaths

Quote: Billy (Sam Rockwell) “There’ll be one guy left with one eye. Hows the last blind guy gonna take out the eye of the last guy left, who’s still got one eye! All that guy has to do is run away and hide behind a bush. Gandhi was wrong, it’s just that nobody’s got the balls to come right out and say it.”

Directed by Martin McDonagh, this gruesome tale of a screenwriter takes the words from the page and turns them into the reality. Marty (Colin Farrell) is a screenwriter writing the next murder movie called ‘Seven Psychopaths’. He is an alcoholic with a bit of a temper… did I mention he’s Irish. Despite the critics expecting excellent work from him, he is facing terrible writer’s block (is this the only plot conflict any writer faces in the movies?).

Billy, one of Marty’s best friends, is a bit odd himself. He’s a little too rambunctious for most, but Marty enjoys his company. Billy gets himself, Marty and his friend Hans (Christopher Walken) into trouble by stealing a mob bosses cute, little dog. Woody Harrelson plays the mob boss, a deranged and rather flamboyant psychopath that will stop at nothing to get his dog back.

When I looked up the director, I knew his name sounded familiar. At KU, one professor of mine had us read The Pillowman. Sorry to the professor for not giving credit to them, but in all honesty, this play was so morose that maybe you don’t want your name associated with it. Regardless, if you have ever read any of McDonagh’s work (In Bruges, Six Shooter), you’ll be sure to love this. Plus, Sam Rockwell has been kicking a** in his recent movies.

 

4. Almost Famous

Quote: Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) “You CANNOT make friends with the rock stars. That’s what’s important. If you’re a rock journalist – first, you will never get paid much. But you will get free records from the record company. And they’ll buy you drinks, you’ll meet girls, they’ll try to fly you places for free, offer you drugs… I know. It sounds great. But they are not your friends. These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of the rock stars, and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it.”

It’s every kid’s dream to meet their rock star idols. Strike that; it’s not just every kid’s dream to meet their music idols, but every passionate music fan wants to meet the people that create their favorite tunes. William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is a young reporter, no older than 16, that gets the opportunity to follow his favorite rock band and write an article for Rolling Stone Magazine about them. Unfortunately, meeting your icon isn’t all it’s cut out to be.

Stillwater, the fictitious band from the movie, has the greatest guitar player on the planet. Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) tours across the country and people absolutely love him. In one scene, he jumps from the top of a house into a pool yelling “I’m a Rock God” and his fans go insane. Still, he has his flaws. He thinks he’s better than his band mates and lead singer (Jason Lee) Jeff Bebe calls Hammond out for it throughout the movie. On top of that, his biggest fan and Miller’s crush, Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) is consistently disregarded despite her devotion to the band.

This is a classic. Check it out stat. When you hear Elton John’s Tiny Dancer in the movie, you’ll understand the significance of this movie.

 

3. Marley & Me

Quote: John Grogan (Owen Wilson) ” A dog doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his.”

This is based on a true story about a real life journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, John Grogan. Grogan has the dog from hell. Honestly, that’s all I’m going to say about this one. I love it too much, to ruin things for anyone else. It stars Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston as the couple trying to juggle a new family, new careers, and a dog that has absolutely no manners. Still, it’s tough for me to even write this without tearing up: excellent movie.

2. Secret Window

Quote: Ken Karsch (Charles S. Dutton) “What happened? You finally bang one of your groupies? Omaha Barnes & Noble? I’m sorry. Rotten profession.”

One of my favorite films of all time. Johnny Depp plays a character named Mort Rainey. Mort has made a living by writing. Unfortunately for Rainey, he is facing a divorce. This has been very traumatic for him and he is having extreme difficulty coping with this change. Worse yet, there is a man that wants nothing more than to humiliate Rainey.

As Rainey delays signing the paperwork for his divorce, a man that goes by Shooter swears that Rainey stole his story and had it published. Mort tries to prove Shooter wrong, but he can’t. Whether he tries to look up the old publication or find it amongst his work, he can’t seem to find it. Mort calls the authorities and everything to try and get this man to stop terrorizing him, but nothing seems to work. He is helpless to Shooter’s destruction.

John Turturro plays Shooter and does a stellar job. His overall presence in the movie is haunting. Depp gives his typical creepy performance that he usually does in any Tim Burton film. Though this was directed by David Koepp, the fact that it was written by Stephen King makes this movie a must-see.

1. Stranger than Fiction

Quote: Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson) “Because it’s a book about a man who doesn’t know he’s about to die and then dies. But if the man does know he’s going to die and dies anyway, dies willingly, knowing he could stop it, then… I mean, isn’t that the type of man you want to keep alive?”

On IMDb, this movie was rated 7.7 out of 10 stars. Almost Famous was 8.0 and The Shining was by far the highest amongst these movies at 8.5 stars. Yet, these ratings mean nothing when I watch this movie. We all take Will Ferrell for this over eccentric comedian sent to Earth just to make us laugh; hardly the case when you watch movies like this and Everything Must Go.

Emma Thompson plays an author that usually writes tragic endings. In most cases, this would be fine because her pen has no repercussion on what occurs in real life. She writes, “Harold Crick was a man of infinite numbers, endless calculations and incredibly few words.” Go figure, Ferrel’s character’s name just happens to be Harold Crick.

As it turns out, everything that Thompson writes occurs in his real life. In fact, her voice narrates his life throughout his head. He can hear her writing! With the help of Dr. Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), he tracks down Thompson and finds her to tell her what is happening. She is caught in a pickle because the way her books end usually don’t pan out for the hero. Whatever she writes will happen to Harold.

Meanwhile, Harold finally finds passion in his life. Two scenes in particular I love are his serenade to Maggie Gyllenhaal and when he tries to pick a guitar. It’s brilliantly written and you will ultimately fall in love with both Harold Crick and Thompson’s character.

 

 

Top-10 Movies About Writers: 10-6 (Spoiler Alerts!)

The life of a writer can seem mighty boring. Often times we write more interesting things than what we live. Interviewing intriguing people or writing an elaborate fantasy is as close to excitement as some of us may get. Yet, the movies make writer’s lives seem so interesting. Ideally, you don’t want to live these lives that are depicted on the silver screen, but one thing is for certain, life would be far less mundane. If future writers expected their lives to be remotely like those in movies, we’d all be murderers, drug addicts and alcoholics.

Now I enjoy movies, but this is a very select group of movies. Therefore, I haven’t seen all of them. This is just my top-ten that I’ve seen. After I made my list I checked out a couple similar lists, they had Barton Fink and Eat, Pray, Love towards the top of their lists. I haven’t seen these (refuse to watch Julia Roberts movies, personally), but check their lists out because it is doubtful you will agree with mine. With that said, I’d like to share with everyone some movies about writers. If you so choose, check them out for your enjoyment.

10. Adaptation

Quote: Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep) “I suppose I do have one unembarrassed passion. I want to know what it feels like to care about something passionately.”

I must give credit where credit is due. During my Magazine II writing class, we focused on the article by Susan Orlean called “Orchid Fever” (http://www.susanorlean.com/articles/orchid_fever.html). Therefore, thanks goes to Professor Melissa Nurczynski for turning me onto this classic.

Directed by Spike Jonze, this movie follows a screenwriter that tries to adapt the books created from “Orchid Fever” into a movie. Nicolas Cage plays Charlie Kaufman, the screenwriter, and his twin brother. Needless to say, Cage’s recent movie work has not been his finest. Since his Con Air days, his work has gone down hill, but he delivered an excellent performance in this one. (Check out this article by Alex Pappademas about the career of Nicolas Cage, it’s hilarious: http://grantland.com/features/irrational-treasure/).

While Kaufman tries to make this screenplay, his twin brother is continually tormenting him with his own ideas. Furthermore, he struggles finding a concept for the book that seemingly has no silver screen value. It displays all of the typical struggles one may face with writer’s block. In addition, Chris Cooper plays the main character of the article Orlean wrote years ago. Cooper won an Oscar for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ with his fantastic performance as eccentric farmer John Laroche.

 

9. The Words

Quote: Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid) “At some point, you have to choose between life and fiction. The two are very close, but they never actually touch. ”

Alongside Quaid, Bradley Cooper stars in this dramatic romance about plagiarism. This is by no means one of Cooper’s best films. His roles in American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook far exceed his performance in this one, but I still enjoyed this dramatic tale of deceit.

Cooper plays Rory Jansen, a young writer who has supposedly written the next great American novel. Things are going well for him until Hammond gets involved and says he has written the book Jansen took credit for. It’s up to you to watch from there. It’s not my goal to spoil movies for anyone and the movie is just that simple. Give it a shot.

 

8. Kalifornia

Quote: Early Grayce (Brad Pitt) ” Tell me, big shot, how you gonna write a book about something you know nothing about?”

This one made the list because I have a soft spot for David Duchovny. If you haven’t seen the Showtime television show Californication, give it a shot. Duchovny plays Hank Moody, a degenerate writer that always finds himself in the right place at the wrong time. It is hilarious, vulgar, provocative, and everything I want from a TV show.

In Kalifornia, Duchovny is once again a writer, and a rather disturbed one at that. He and his wife (Michelle Forbes) travel the country looking for sites that were once inhabited by serial killers. Through his journalistic exploits, he comes across Grayce and his wife (Juliette Lewis). Little does Duchovny know, he is in the graces of one of the most notorious active serial killers to date. Keep in mind the next time you begin investigating your next subject that sometimes your story is right under your nose. In this case, that is the last thing you would ever want.

 

7. The Shining

Quote: Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) “Heeere’s Johnny!” (Had to be done, one of the most famous quotes of all time.)

If you haven’t seen this one yet, where have you been all your life. Absolute classic, many consider this to be one of the greatest films of all time. (Not me personally). However, that freak Stanley Kubrick directed this piece starring a deranged Nicholson that is sure to compel any future writers to strongly reconsider their decision. Writer’s block can be dangerous!

 

6. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Quote: Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) “There he goes. One of God’s own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.”

Absolutely brilliant movie about drugs, sex, alcohol, and general absurdity. Depp and Benecio Del Toro are two friends that explore the insanity that Las Vegas has in store for them. To make things a tad more ‘fun’, the two partake in any drug you could possibly think of. From ether to acid, these two did it all with little to no hesitation.

Depp is a reporter covering some race in the desert, but his efforts aren’t entirely focused on writing. Still, he has an extremely interesting tale to tell his readers. Honestly, a story is all this man wants to tell, even if it has absolutely nothing to do with what he is supposed to be covering.

Internship Insanity: WEBstaurantStore.com

Internship Meeting II is less than a week away on April 22. The meeting will be held in room 202 of the AF at 11 am. Be sure to be there with an internship or not. There is a little cushion given, considering not every employer quickly replies to internship submissions. Still, get on the phone and make some calls; do what you have to in order to get someones attention.

For all the intern-less scholars out there, WEBstaurantStore.com is looking for Content Interns. This is a paid internship out of Lancaster, PA. It was recently posted to Internmatch.com, but for better information head to this link: http://www.webstaurantstore.com/careers.html. From my understanding, they want someone to write about the products they sell, develop content in regards to their website, and manage projects they currently have in the works. Additionally, they would like someone who is able to write supportive content for their eCommerce products.

WEBstaurant is a website that sells any type of restaurant or kitchen needs. From tabletops to dinnerware, they seem to be fully supplied with any needs. Also, they provide consumable items. In their Food Service Resources they have tons of articles. They seem to have been written by the website, not just links to other source. For instance, there is “Attract Diners with Your Outdoor Restaurant Sign” (http://www.webstaurantstore.com/articles/attract-diners-with-your-outdoor-restaurant-sign.cfm) and “How to Make Cotton Candy” (http://www.webstaurantstore.com/articles/how-to-make-cotton-candy.cfm).

Check it out and apply. Time is running out. Any experience is a good experience, don’t be picky. Writing about food may not be your dream job, but it is something to help you understand the writing profession and what is expected of you. Good luck!

Editorial/Writing Internship | WholeFoods Magazine

Editorial/Writing Internship | WholeFoods Magazine

Check this link out; excellent opportunity to start working in the writing field. The position was posted to InternMatch.com on April 9. This is the link from their website. I would apply with the latter. You never know how often people check the external databases. Good luck!

Internship Insanity: Geek Insider

Do you have an interest in video gaming? Is Doctor Who one of your favorite shows? Well, I may have found the internship for you! Considering the opportunity to grab an internship by April 22 is closing, it might be for the best to check this awesome writing opportunity out.

Geek Insider is looking for editorial interns to write content, edit material, and take an initiative to better their company. A majority of their content is technology based. For instance, articles are written about the best way to utilize your smartphone or additional ways to use your PC. Also, Geek Insider focuses on entertaining sub-cultures such as your comic book fans and Anime enthusiasts. After reading a few articles, I must say the site is rather entertaining. From movie reviews of the new Captain America movie to the best Joss Whedon quotes (screenplay writer for Marvel movies), Geek Insider covers a variety of material and anyone can find at least one thing they’re interested in. Take a look at the website here: http://www.geekinsider.com/.

Geek Insider is looking for a college student with journalism or creative writing experience. The job was posted February 25, so this position has been lingering for some time and has yet to be filled. Geek Insider is located in West Chester, but it is my understanding that the position can be completed from a remote location. To apply, be sure to prepare your best resume and a cohesive cover letter displaying the reasons you should be chosen for their position. Head to the following link to get started: http://www.geekinsider.com/internship-application/.

Internship Insanity: Addiction Awareness Audiobooks

Internship Meeting II will be held Tuesday, April 22 in the AF 202. Be sure to find an internship quickly. Time is running out!

The next internship I have found is in Reading, PA. This will be a summer internship for about 10-weeks. Hours are not specified, but I would assume you can request as many hours as you need. The deadline to apply for this internship is April 13. If interested, quickly apply because time is running out.

Led by D. Lynn Simpson, the Awareness Audiobooks team is looking to expose more about the truth of addiction. Their ‘Vision Statement’ is “We are establishing awareness about addiction abuses by creating, producing, publishing, and marketing our originally created Dramatic Radio Series formatted Audiobooks. Through entertaining, thought-provoking, and realistic dramas, AWARENESS AUDIOBOOKS provides a compelling demonstration of how Addictions, along with all their consequences and related disorders, adversely affect millions of people on a daily basis.”

This internship has the potential to be beneficial for the intern and countless others who listen to the Audiobooks being created. The administrators office is located in the GoggleWorks Building Office 410. GoggleWorks is located at 201Washington Street, Reading, PA 19601.

In order to apply, you must complete a cover letter and send a copy of your resume to Lynn@Awarenessaudiobooks.com by April 13. Time is running out, get those applications in soon!

Internship Insanity: Friends Relations Internship

It’s getting to be that time, KU Professional Writing majors will be expected to have an internship in the next two weeks.  Internship Meeting II will be held Tuesday, April 22 in the AF 202.

Finding an internship can be hard and seems even more impossible when time begins to dwindle on us. Do not panic; you still have time to find an internship! Though you are expected to have an internship in two weeks, our faculty is extremely understanding. That’s not to say you can wait until the beginning of the summer to have one, just understand the faculty is flexible. If you’re waiting to hear back from possible opportunities, I would certainly start asking them whether you got the internship. Otherwise don’t give up and keep applying. Something will turn up.

Considering the time frame to find an internship for the upcoming semester is closing, I figured I’d do my best to assist those still searching. I came across an internship near Philadelphia. Mind you, I found this on Craigslist, but it seems legitimate. Sometimes you’ll see a few internships on there that are clearly a hoax. “Do you want to write for the Eagles?”, and there is only a three line job description. Those are likely fake.

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is looking for an intern to help with blog and online writing. The AFSC is a Quaker organization. They state on their website, “The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Quaker organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action. Drawing on continuing spiritual insights and working with people of many backgrounds, we nurture the seeds of change and respect for human life that transform social relations and systems.” (http://afsc.org)

Essentially, the intern they choose will be responsible for blogging and writing stories of the AFSC’s work. Additionally, the AFSC expects the new intern to better organize their current blog. They prefer someone in-line with their beliefs, but it’s worth the effort even if you’re not.

This internship will require 20-hours a week. It is also unpaid. In order to apply for this internship, you must fill out the following application:  https://jobs-afsc.icims.com/jobs/1300/friends-relations-intern/job?mode=view. If you have any complications, please visit the website. I tried a couple times; twice I got an error and then finally I was brought to the application.

To everyone trying for this position, I wish you the best of luck. Stay tuned for more internship opportunities as I will be scouting them out to the best of my abilities. Regardless, keep at it and don’t lose faith. Something will turn up for all of you.