The Chaparral

Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Campus News

Kraft Nabisco winner Lorena Ochoa reacts after hitting a putt. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

Suzann Petterson keeping her eye on the ball after a swing at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

Annika Sorenstam putting at Mission Hills Country Club at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

For many students at College of the Desert, their future may not begin until they transfer or graduate. However, for one week, I was a media intern at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. It was an experience I'll take with me for the rest of my journalism career.

My work began on Monday, March 31 at the Mission Hills Country Club. Media correspondents were given special parking spaces, tags, shirts, privileges, and our very own air-conditioned tent. Donna Hahn, president of Hahn Communications, was the best boss I could ask for. She made me feel like a team player from day one. It was her warm, welcoming guidance that helped me find comfort in such a new experience.

The first thing they had me do was stuff press packets with information, scores, and the general history of the Kraft Nabisco Championship. I was also told to cut articles mentioning the tournament from various newspapers, including The Desert Sun, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. The glue stick and scissors became my closest friends. Other times, I simply watched over the phone, sent faxes, handed out lunch badges, and how could I forget, made copies.

Everything you've heard about interns making copies is true, but as a matter of fact, it's actually kind of fun. The best part was what came after the copies were made. Typically, I would hand out various transcripts and notes to the press, all of whom worked just three feet away from us. Truth be told, I spent the better part of my first two days gazing at the rows of desks filled with everyone from the New York Times to Getty Images.

It was an honor to step into their world. I was practically pinching myself. I was with "journalists in their natural habitat." I finally got the nerve to speak to several of them and found them to be humble, down-to-earth people, (after all, they weren't the stars; the golfers were). There was a re-ciprocation of respect that was hard to explain. They made me feel like I could be one of them and still remain completely humble and true to myself.

I also had the opportunity to pass the microphone during several press conferences throughout the tournament. Between keeping my eye on the mic, I watched with eager, alert eyes as the journalists went from one question to the next. The most invigorating experience of the week was, without question, the conference for the winner, Lorena Ochoa, who won the tournament with flying colors. The press energy surrounding her was unbelievable.

The most interesting experience was witnessing news and the way it develops from the time it happens to the moment it goes to print. As I clipped the articles and recognized the journalists' names, my mind flashed back to those press conferences as well as the transcripts I copied and passed out to everyone. I had been a part of it. Not only was I watching the press do its job, I was the
press.

I took a lot from what I learned, but the number one thing I could pass on to readers is this: if you're offered an internship in a career you hope to enter, take it. I walked in expecting to answer phones and get a free lunch. I walked out with a greater understanding of the way business works, and why I can't wait to enter it.

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