‘So how did you get this job again?’ A summer interning at The Aspen Times

When I was a sophomore at Aspen High School, my counselor put me into Sarah Ward’s “Intro to Journalism” class. I wasn’t thrilled. 

I had been trying to switch out of Art 1 and get a free period, yet somehow, I ended up with seemingly more work in this journalism class. But by the end of the first quarter, I was hooked. I joined the AHS Skier Scribbler second semester. Granted, I wrote all my articles at home and elected to play video games in the corner of the classroom, but I enjoyed the writing aspect when I decided to focus on it. Junior year, however, I found my groove — and that was where the fascination started. 

Fast forward to the end of my senior year. I had transferred to Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS) and needed to find a senior project. All seniors at CRMS have a three-week block where they must move out of their dorms and homes and volunteer for a person or organization. I am going to Colorado College for journalism and knew that my senior project would be a good place to start.

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My hopes of volunteering at The New York Times fell through due to the cost, so I got stuck with my backup: The Aspen Times. At least, that was my mindset at the time.

My first contact was with Ray Erku, the editor, who asked me following my interview in February if I could start writing immediately. I decided to focus on school until my internship officially started in May. As my disappointment about not working for The New York Times quickly faded, I realized what I was actually getting into. Before, I had worked as a food server, a glorified janitor, and a sales associate in retail — typical teenage jobs. Not only was being a reporter my chosen career path, but it was also an opportunity to hold a job with real responsibility that carried weight when I told people, “I’m a reporter with The Aspen Times.”

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My first day in the office, I was handed a key to the building, and within 30 minutes, I was given a press release and a camera and told to get to work. Ray, my editor, apparently had high expectations of my ability. I hadn’t written a news piece since the beginning of my junior year.

Yet, on my second day of work, I was presented with a paper in which I had two bylines and a photo. By the end of my first week, I had run photos and stories on the cover of The Aspen Times. This was a formative week for me. While I had enjoyed all my previous jobs, by the end of the summer, the monotony of these jobs began to torment my active mind. I’m happiest when I’m outside in the mountains, and working at The Aspen Times gave me an opportunity to do that on the job. That’s not a position you can find anywhere.

In the third week of the internship, I was offered to work through the summer. The perks of the job were apparent, but the drawbacks were less obvious. The hours spent making phone calls and leaving messages and emails only to abandon the story was disheartening at times. Yet, the ageism was much more striking. 

One of the biggest takeaways of this job is people’s innate untrustworthy attitude toward the press. That was only compounded by my age. People can’t seem to believe I’m a reporter and not trying to pull their leg. Several times I’ve been met with the same lines:

“How old are you? I thought you were older on the phone.”

“So how did you get this job again?”

“Do you have any way to prove to me you’re actually a reporter?”

It’s hard to get people to talk to the press. Many conversations shut down quickly after I shared I was working for a newspaper. It was sad to see that in this divisive era in the US, both politically and environmentally, people still turn away the press.

I still haven’t lost my belief that the press is a major moving force for global change and is one of the best outlets for advocacy. As my CRMS history teacher Beth Krasemann taught me, all change starts local.