By: Ally Roden

Starting Belmont this past year as a freshman, and even now as an upcoming sophomore, I still have trouble fitting in that 16th class credit hour. After completing my one-credit wellness class first semester, I struggled to come up with a single credit hour that sounded appealing to me. It wasn’t until I heard about the one-credit “Website Editor” Communication Internship that I realized I had another option to get to 16 hours.

Since I was a freshman, I was hesitant to take the internship because I felt unqualified and did not know if I would be able to submit work that met the standards of my advisor. In actuality, this internship was the perfect first step into the professional world for my major. The work load was not too heavy, and the atmosphere is extremely laid back and low pressure. It is the perfect first internship for students who do not have much experience. Dr. Vaughn works with you to make sure you fully understand your responsibilities and is more than willing to help if you have any questions. The Website Editor Internship has multiple responsibilities that teach extremely valuable skills and helps students gain experience. This semester, there were three positions that were filled by Communication majors.

The first position that makes up the internship is the Professional Development Specialist. I took over this position and was in charge of uploading internships to the website as well as writing a handful of stories. My favorite part was the freedom I had to choose what I wanted to write about. As a result of writing about professional development at Belmont, I learned a lot about the Communication Department community. I have also gained a greater perspective of the opportunities Belmont and its staff offer through talking with fellow students. From studying abroad, to writing their own blogs, it was very interesting to hear their perspectives directly. Taking part in this internship gave me more confidence in my writing as well as my overall professionalism.

The next position was the Blog/Analytics Specialist which Megan Montgomery took over. She was responsible for writing stories, editing blog entries, and taking care of the analytics of the website. Over the last semester, she has enjoyed not only getting to improve her writing and editing, but has also valued the opportunity she has been given to learn how to work cohesively as a team to create better and more creative content. Megan has learned how to navigate WordPress, create and read analytics, utilize AP style, and many more skills that she will use in future internships and jobs.

The final position of Blog/Social Media Specialist was executed by Jack Tucker. He wrote stories, posted on the department’s Twitter page, and tracked the social media analytics. Jack also found great value in the relationships and connections he was able to make as a result of the internship. He loved writing and editing blogs, as well as attending convos that he tweeted and wrote about. Although daunting at first, he found that he had the skill set to complete all of his tasks as a freshman, while continuing to learn more about his professional field.

All of the current student editors have enjoyed working on the website, and highly recommend any Communication major that is looking to fill that extra hour to apply. Dr. Vaughn is still currently searching for one more student editor. If you are interested, contact her at Mary.Vaughn@belmont.edu.