Sasha Davis: Final Stretch

My mom told me that as you get older time goes by much faster. I am finding this to be incredibly true. I remember in elementary school summer break seemed to last forever. Endless days running around the neighborhood with my friends, those three months felt like a whole school year. In high school I couldn’t wait for school to get back into session during the final days of summer. Hours of pushing shopping carts in 90 degree weather made summer feel like an eternity. Now that I am approaching the end of my final summer before I graduate and no longer have to go back to school, I’m not ready for it to end.
I started my internship at the Spokesman-Review eleven weeks ago, yet I feel like I just got here. Time flew by. The other day, I was looking for decorative tapestries when I realized that I’m moving out in 2 weeks and I still haven’t decorated my apartment, or (shamefully) totally unpacked. The painting I begun 9 weeks ago is still not completed. I told myself I was going to paint all the time this summer. I still want to explore Manito Park, and finish J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories. Summer can’t be over yet, I still haven’t done everything I wanted to do.
Oh well. Sometimes items on my agenda get moved aside for things I could have never thought to put on a list. I never thought I would find such great friends here in Spokane. The other interns have made my experience so much fun. I guess hours of painting were replaced with hours of swimming in Lake Coeur d’Alene, and cold refreshments at Far West. Last weekend, at Lake Pend Oreille, I went sailing via canoe towed by a sailboat. It was like a Disneyland ride. Now who puts something like that on their to-do list.
Work at the Spokesman-Review did not seem like work at all. I still am in awe that I got paid to do video and meet awesome people. I learned so much about print and video media allowing my growth only to accelerate during my final production classes. I learned that I am on the right career track, because when I wake up in the morning, dread is not an emotion that I feel. I’m going to miss this place.
My tip for future interns is to take advantage of your time here. There is so much to learn both in and out of the newsroom. You will find that a lot of the time, work and enjoyment go hand in hand. I got to see so many beautiful places and meet amazing people during assignments. Explore the area and get to know the town. You are at an advantage, because knowing the community is part of your job working at a newspaper. Don’t worry too much about your summer to-do list and just go with the flow. Oh yeah, and definitely go canoe-sailing on Pend Oreille.