By Kenya Smith

Last year, I was blessed to do an internship at The Tidewater News. So far, I have learned how to conduct interviews, write stories, cover events, edit and process content, and create advertisements. All of what I learned were fun and challenging experiences. I even wrote some column articles for the newspaper which led me to win first place for non-daily column writing at the Virginia Press Association awards in April, and that was an amazing feeling. While accomplishing all of these things, I got to learn more about the people who work hard to make The Tidewater News possible.

Unfortunately, Friday was my last day as an intern here. That being said, it has been an absolute pleasure to serve the Western Tidewater region by means of informing the residents about the events and happenings in their community.

Every time I covered an event, or wrote a story, or helped create advertisements, I always thought about the residents. If I wrote a story about an upcoming event, I pictured how many people would show up to that event after they’ve read the story. If I did a story about a person or an organization who has done some awesome things in their community, I pictured the smiling faces of themselves, their families and their friends when they opened the newspaper and saw their story. If I wrote an op-ed that covered issues of today’s social climate, I pictured the numerous people who felt silenced or unheard gaining the peace of mind to know that someone out there is listening. If I was helping out with creating advertisements, I pictured companies receiving phone calls about their services, sales and specials and a growing clientele. I did not write stories or create ads so that I could be seen and heard, I did it for the people. That is what journalism is all about.

There are a lot of people that I would like to thank. First, I would like to thank my Savior Jesus Christ for opening this door of opportunity for me. I also would like to thank my mom for supporting me during my internship. I also would like to thank Mrs. Desiree Key, Ms. Tisha Evans and Hampton Roads Workforce Council for making it possible for me to do this internship, and for continuing to provide resources and information that will help me on my career journey.

I thank Tony Clark and the entire Tidewater News family for considering me as part of their team and for teaching me the skills and tasks that are necessary in the field of journalism and marketing. I have learned so much from all of them, and I hope that I would continue to use what I learned to help me become the person that I was meant to be.

To the people of Western Tidewater, thank you so much for allowing me to help tell your story. Even though I will no longer be interning at The Tidewater News, you’ll see me again real soon.