I just completed my third week of my MFA internship. I spoke with my boss and am pleased to report that my internship has been extended which I’m really excited about!!! I can keep going for as long as I’d like. I’m hoping to stay as an intern for a while longer and get more experience.

An internship has been a great learning experience and a great way to get in on the ground floor of the animal activism field and learn from the bottom and I hope to work my way to the top. I feel joy and pride in having a sense of what I want to do with the rest of my life. We’ll see how this journey goes and where it will lead. It’s weird to think that it snowballed to an internship from an innocent party at SH Smile’s house called a Very Vegan Holiday! I’m glad I went to that party!

Anyways, this week has been rather quiet. My duties have been promoted a bit from commenting on google articles to coming up with drafts for letters to the editor and finding articles in newspapers to send letters to. I’m still working on the Walmart Cruely campaign every day. My favorite thing to do is write blog articles and I got another shot at that this week! There aren’t a lot of blog opportunities but when there are they seem to come my way and I jump at the chance at them!

We did another paid per view event outside a college dorm in the Chicago. I got to ride the elevated train for the first time. We took the brown line! I felt very Chicago-chic taking the train! The paid per view event was interesting. College kids, while you’d think they have an open mind, often think they’re too cool for the $1.00 we were offering them to watch the video. I was surprised. Leafleting was about the same. We handed out a lot of leaflets and were successful with the paid per view events but the vibe of the whole thing seemed off to me somehow.

This week, as a fun side note, I got rear-ended by a semi on a hit and run in heavy traffic on my way home on Tuesday night on 80/94. Note to self: listen to the Magellan and take the alternate rout the next time it says there’s heavy traffic….it’s not joking.

I was feeling some stress this week so I took some time off. I didn’t volunteer at any festivals this weekend. I spent some time with Pete. That’s part of the learning experience of having a 20-hour per week internship plus a full time job is learning how to balance things. We spent a relaxing weekend together just chilling. I feel more energized and ready to dive into more work now.

I’m very excited that my internship has been extended and that I can keep going. I absolutely love what I am doing and am hoping I get handed harder projects as time goes on. I get bored so easily so the more challenging for me the project is, the better off I am and more likely I am to succeed.

Have a great week!

Sara Sawochka