My first week at the City Paper came with some pleasant surprises. 

First are the simple things. I get my own cubicle, which is great not just because of the actual cubicle but also because of the air of professionalism that comes with it. There’s a great view of the city in the newsroom, and a nice kitchen. 

Aside from those things, I was impressed with how rewarding I found the work. As was already explained in my original job interview, as the Arts and Entertainment intern, I am in charge of working on short blurbs about upcoming events every week as part of the paper’s “Short List” section. These small pieces of writing usually don’t require a lot of original reporting, but I enjoyed doing them nonetheless. There’s a certain art to putting together information as succinctly and clearly as I’m required to, I have to play close attention to stuff like word choice, phrasing and organization I ways I never quite had to before. 

I am also required to do the weekly “Everyone’s a Critic” feature, which requires one to attend an art event every week, find an attendee, and ask them about their thoughts on the event. Along with that, you also get a photo and some basic information about them. I was required to attend the opening of an art gallery at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, and there I was introduced to a kind of art I wasn’t aware of before. 

I had a good first week.