Dan McCormick
Here I am at the end. Yesterday was the last day of my internship at the Legal Intelligencer, and today’s will be my last class with Deborah for Urban and Political Systems Issues and Changes. Come Saturday, I get into a car and drive back to Hanover, so that I can be back in time for Hanover’s May term.
After class today I’ll meet with Deborah for the close-out meeting, where I’ll turn in my final portfolio. The portfolio is the last part of The Philadelphia Center’s cycle of experiential learning. This will include an overview of what I learned during the semester at my internship and on my own, a self-assessment of my goals for the semester, and evidence of the work that I did at my internship. My portfolio includes a lot of articles I wrote, cut out of copies of the Legal, as well as rough drafts of articles and notes that I took during interviews.
But I’ve also been doing fun things too! Last weekend I took a train to Atlantic City for the day and checked out the boardwalk there, and a few days before then I went to a punk show at First Unitarian Church in Center City. I was right up front for Andrew Jackson Jihad. It was boss.
Mostly, though, I’ve been getting ready to go home. My time here is done. I’m movin’ on. I’ve been packing and eating the last of my groceries, and I’ve already turned in my last assignment for Exploring Relationships in Fiction in Film class.
The semester really flew by. Although I’m ready for the summer, it’s going to be strange to walk out of my apartment in a few days and never walk back in. There are a lot of students in the program that I probably won’t see for a long time, and some I might not see again.
I said goodbye to the other reporters at the Legal yesterday, and I realized that I’d made some very strong connections there. Everyone offered to be a reference for me if I needed it, and they all wished me luck. I had really become part of the staff there, it felt like. Huh.
I had a lot of really great experiences at my internship and with The Philadelphia Center. I learned how to live on my own. I became a better writer. And I met a lot of great people and did some really cool things. I’m very glad I came. I know that it’s about to be over, and I’m ready for it to be, but I would not have traded this semester for anything.
