Journalism senior Jake Allen spent his summer as a news intern at the Colorado Springs Gazette. Today, he is back in East Lansing for his senior year at MSU as the editor-in-chief of The State News.
“The State News prepared me really well before I got to the Colorado Springs Gazette,” Allen said. “During my internship, I learned how to be a better writer. They had me work on better introductions and I had the chance to strengthen my storytelling.”
Allen said the skills he learned over the summer in Colorado helped prepare him for his new leadership position at the student newspaper.
Operations at the Colorado Springs Gazette were similar to what he was used to at The State News, just on a larger scale. The story topics were different, the place was different, but MSU’s collegiate newspaper prepared him well for the interviews he had to conduct and the stories he had to craft.
A great aspect of having an internship at the Colorado Springs Gazette, for Allen, was that the full time employees treated the interns like part of the team. He got to chase the stories he was assigned, pitch stories, and cover high profile stories that landed his name on the front page.
“One of my favorite stories to cover was when I got to go to the Air Force Academy for the new cadets day,” Allen said. “It got pretty intense. There was a lot of yelling and a lot of intimidation, but it was also an amazing story to write.”
When Allen first started to apply for summer internships, he knew that he wanted to find one outside of Michigan. He said the Colorado Springs Gazette was the one that worked out the best for him. Allen felt living out west would be a great experience.
His advice for other students would be to reach for out of state, or dream, internships, because they are attainable if you work at it.
“Apply to as many internships as you can,” Allen said. “Obviously it is important to make sure you are still sending in quality applications, but definitely put yourself out there while still focusing on the details. Make sure that you’re sending in the best application you can.”
What helped Allen during the process was following up with contacts for the internships that he was applying. He said he was particularly persistent with the Colorado Springs Gazette, because he knew it would be a great summer opportunity.
He advises journalism students to really take advantage of some of their first journalism classes, such as JRN 200 and JRN 300, noting that he wouldn’t have gotten his start at The State News without basic clips from these classes.
“Through the whole internship process, I learned that it’s not that hard moving to a new place, making friends and starting a new job,” Allen said. “Definitely be open to new places and new opportunities during school and after graduation, too.”
