Neither America Ferrera nor Anne Hathaway make the magazine journalism world look like a particularly friendly one. Between the backstabbing coworkers, thankless assignments and Cruella de Vil like bosses, this movie and primetime show make working for a magazine seem like an experience that only a deeply confused or disturbed individual would wish upon themselves. Despite my first impression that I realize Hollywood often misrepresents, I excitedly looked into opportunities to help me improve my writing skills and get my feet wet with a publication over the summer. Mentioning what kind of internship I was interested in to anybody, whether friends, family or one particularly rude academic advisor prompted discouraging responses: immediate laughter, long awkward pauses, or my favorite response- questions to ensure that I had thought about my decision and slowly guide me back to the light. “Why don’t you just baby-sit?” “You don’t really want to be yelled at all day?” “Do you even know how to dress?”

      With these questions in my mind and a reel of the latest Ugly Betty episode playing in the back of my head, I nervously arrived at the bareCommunication office. I had already been told that skirt! Magazine was only one bareCommunication client and that there were a list of others that the company worked to promote organically. This bit of information just added to my anxiety, confirming the fact that I would be completely lost the minute I sat down to a computer. When I arrived at the office in my attempt at a casual yet stylish outfit, I admit I let my guard down. From the cool lounge furniture to the colorful art, I was impressed and already imagining myself here. Then Laura asked me for my resume and all the anxiety came back, because of course, of course I had forgotten it. I sat nervously at the table waiting for the interrogation process to begin. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad. Both Laura and Dusty were friendly, excited, and interested in what I had to say, which I figured was a genius mind trick. Before I knew it was over, they were asking what day I could come in. As I got ready to leave, pointing to their skirts and flip flops, Dusty informed me, “We dress casual, by the way.” There is a God!

      Monday morning brought back a lower dosage of my previous distress. I was given my first direction to familiarize myself with the clients via websites and a press clippings binder. I thought frantically, how long am I supposed to take to read this and are they going to ask me questions afterwards? As I read up on the clients, I became a little more comfortable, each of them seeming like an interesting and fun thing to invest time and business into. Then I got my first assignment and I literally freaked out, all internally of course; I had no idea what it was. I read the assignment over and over, wondering what the heck is a catalogue copy, a rtf, and a ftp and Googling each one of the terms, only to add to my confusion. After my fifteenth reread of the assignment, I took a deep breath and did the unthinkable (at least on TV, they make it seem unthinkable), and asked Laura what I was supposed to do. Without any signs of anger, cold stares, and even a hint of cheeriness, I learned that I was supposed to be describing pieces of apparel, and that I needed to save it in a different format, which Google could have easily told me before, but whatever.

     The rest of Monday and Wednesday, I realized I would have to let go of my Ugly Betty comparisons. I haven’t been given any wildly impossible tasks, no one has threatened me to sacrifice my life for the office, and I’ve even been fed the best baked potato possibly in Texas (At Beaver’s, but that whole experience deserves its own entry).

      Even though it has only been a week, I think it’s obvious that someone is going to need to turn my experience into a movie immediately to encourage all those poor little internship seekers to keep hope alive.