"Mississippi in the summer?" my friends, co-workers and instructors in Eugene, Ore. asked me with a look of bewilderment when I excitedly announced my plans to intern at the Jackson Free Press for two months. "Are you crazy!?"
I came here on a whim but after a week of living with JoAnne Prichard Morris, interning at the JFP -- jumping into action last Monday -- and meeting some of the most down-to-earth, inclusive, and vivacious people I've encountered, I can say with unwavering certainty that I sought a wonderful, adventuresome opportunity. I'm learning to live and write in a drastically different part of the country than my own. It's incredibly refreshing. And, the humidity really isn't as bad as I anticipated, so far...
Mississippi is called the hospitality state and it lives up to its title. Usually I cry within 24 hours of being in unfamiliar territory by myself, but between listening to JoAnne's fabulous life stories and feeling a synergistic energy among the JFP staff, I have managed to stave off homesickness, settling in quickly to this charming place.
I won't pretend that I haven't been worried out of my mind about navigating a new city and needing to meet interviewees in various Jackson neighborhoods; directions have never been my strong suite and I usually ride my bike everywhere back home. I was both relieved and amazed that I made it to the International Ballet Competition's headquarters in downtown Jackson for my first interview last Tuesday. (I held my own for knowing nothing prior about Thalia Mara and Jackson's huge, international ballet scene).
Wednesday, however, I managed to get completely lost driving myself to the Eudora Welty Library for one of the weekly Media Literacy Project research sessions with Bryan, Natalie and the high school aged "associates." I arrived 45 minutes late after leaving JoAnne's house, located a few minutes from the library. I would like to say I took a scenic tour to better acclimate myself to downtown. That wasn't my intention, though.
I pulled my first all-nighter in Jackson last Wednesday finalizing several articles that I majorly procrastinated on for my school's newspaper (we're publishing 24 pages, 10 straight days for the track and field Olympic Trials), detailing my first week in Jackson in a quasi-blog, "The Honorary Mississippian" (what JoAnne said she'd make me by the end of the summer), researching Freedom Riders, and typing two 30-minute free writes for Donna's intern class. I definitely need to read the book that's circulating in the office about time management and productivity.
I've studied journalism for three years but none of my instructors' advice on active listening and reporting well has ever really stuck beyond the basics. After Donna's afternoon intern class Thursday, I felt like I'd made a paradigm shift in the way I view these two journalistic skills that challenge me most. When I talked to my boyfriend via Skype that night, instead of occasionally spacing out and daydreaming about what I needed to get done, I looked directly into the webcam and tried my hardest to focus on him and his stories, responding in genuine interest with further questions and creating an environment for free-flowing conversation instead of stifled communication.
When I needed to make calls to set up interviews Friday, I quickly dialed the numbers and spoke to the IBC patrons without rehearsing my words too much and allowing my palms to line with sweat and voice to get shaky. I spend too much time wallowing in self-consciousness when I report, so simply being reminded that it's not about me -- that others aren't paying attention to my every move and word -- is liberating. Already, I can sense an extra hint of confidence within myself.
One fear I have in my interviews is that I'll unconsciously start talking with a Southern accent instead of my Northwest dialect and seem like I'm mocking those I'm conversing with. I adopt accents easily without thinking about it and have already caught myself saying "ya'll" quite often and "Nawlins" once.
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