Archives for : internships

A Happy-er Post

Posted by :David Manly On : April 10, 2009
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Category: Doom/Gloom, internships, MJ program

Well, I am FINALLY back home for a little bit, after months of toiling in J-School.

When I got home, we had a big dinner with family and friends, and an interesting note was brought up.

One of my sister’s best friends brought something up.

“David, what’s up with J-School? I mean, do you hate it there or something? All your blogs of late have been sad and kinda depressing about how much you hate it there and how much the job sucks. Write something HAPPIER.”

And apparently, it’s not just me! According to Claire’s blog, Take Your Blazer and Get Out, she was approached by an incoming MJ student and was asked if she actually hates the program.

Let’s get it straight … I do NOT hate the MJ program. It is a very busy and stressful program. You are kept busy almost all the time, and sometimes, the never-ending deadlines and stress of producing something “newsy” gets annoying.

However, I have done stuff I never would have thought, and put some pretty good stuff together. I have mentioned what I’ve liked in previous posts, so I will not re-hash it here, but there are quite a few.

I’ve also met the 20 excellent people in my MJ program, and made a lot of friends. They are all fantastic! Really.

And, like Claire mentioned, people tend to blog about something odd or interesting that has happened to them, not so much the rare days off or days where you are just too tired to do anything.

Now, this has seemed more reflective than happy … so let’s inject some joy into the jelly centre of this post.

I FINALLY got an internship! I’ve been trying to get one since January, and it is a lot harder than you would think, even if you are willing to go unpaid. But, I got one working with the government (as with almost everyone else in Ottawa).

It will be interesting, and hopefully, a good time 🙂

If I had the power to smite …

Posted by :David Manly On : January 25, 2009
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Category: internships, OC Transpo, reefs, research, sharks

Well, the talks to end the bus strike have broken down yet again. It appears that for the foreseeable future, the citizens of Ottawa will have to do without public transit.

If I had the power to smite … I’d be having such a blast right about now 😉

Other than that, my life is still pretty much the same.
School. Work. TV. Sleep.
Rinse, lather and repeat.

One other thing is interesting in J-school, is that in order to get our journalism degree, the Masters students need to come up with an idea for an large news piece, either in TV, radio, print or multi-media.

I have a few ideas that I’m going to submit in a proposal this week, but here are two ideas that did NOT make the cut into the final three.

1) As anyone who knows me, you all know that I have a bizarre fascination with sharks. Therefore, I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity for me to learn more about them. Almost like my own personal “Sharkwater” documentary!

However, upon further reflection, there were 2 things wrong with this scenario.
A) Money to get to where the sharks are can be a problem
B) I have an allergy to fish!

So, that one was immediately taken off the table.

2) I thought that exploring the Great Barrier Reef’s declining biomass and biodiversity is a story that is worth being told. However, like the sharks, the monetary issues were far too large to ignore. Even with what little funding I could receive, it would be far too costly. And, also, the allergy.

Stupid fish allergy.

The three ideas that I’m going to submit for the professor’s consideration all fall under the general umbrella of biodiversity and conservation.
Who ever would have thought I’d choose topics like those, right?

Ohh, by the way, I am also applying for internships over the summer months (May to August 2009) at various scientific publications. If anyone has any ideas/hints/tricks/connections, I would be most appreciative.

And now it is time for my daily Journalistic routine of pondering about my life, feeling an increasing sense of dread and crawling up into a ball and moaning like a harp seal until it passes.