Post-Internship Blab

So. There you have it. My four weeks of my second news office internship are officially over. I’m sitting on my bed, listening to some old-school Coldplay, replaying the experience in my head.

And, in addition, I turn 22 tomorrow.

Overall, it was a very positive experience. Everyone I talked to in Community X was suspiciously pleasant and willing to help me out. My co-workers were all very nice. I can see myself missing them sooner, rather than later. (But I can’t miss them too soon, because I’m dropping in tomorrow to pick up a few copies of this week’s newspaper.)

I learned several things while on this internship. Here are a few:

• French vanilla cappuccino is delicious. In fact, I think I’ve become an addict since my editor bought me one nearly every day.
• Any newspaper that will allow an intern to write a weekly column is either awesome or very stupid. Maybe both. But I enjoyed having that opportunity anyway.
• Covering the death of a 20-something-year-old is really tough. Having a friend who knows the victim makes it much, much harder. Above is a photo from that event.
• On the other hand, talking to a police officer about a non-fatal hit-and-run first thing in the morning is a piece of cake after you’ve done a story about someone who died.
• Weekly newspapers are awesome. They allow for flexibility and more creativity in the actual writing process. I really enjoyed having that freedom. (Now. If only more weekly newspapers would move to City X. Then we’d be all set.)
• Weekly newspapers are very different from a daily. I only felt stressed once in four weeks- and that’s only because I scheduled my interviews too close together, all in one. Stupid me.
• One must always double-check the spelling of a name. This seems like it would be obvious. Mostly because it is. I’d never done that before last week. But the world didn’t end. I sent him an apology email before I got a chance to read the article. Thankfully, he was a sweetheart. I realize some people would’ve been an a-hole about it, but not this guy. Phew.
• Give yourself plenty of time. I rushed to an interview one morning. I didn’t realize our meeting place was at the top of a hill. I was literally dripping in sweat while doing an interview. And, of course, he was fairly hot. (Dammit.)
• I could never work in a town where I didn’t have any friends. Socially, I’m fairly odd. I don’t know how to meet people outside of work and school. I met up with a couple of friends from high school while in Community X but, generally, I was lonely for four weeks. I felt like I was missing so much, back in City X. My friends always sound like they were having so much fun together, without me.

But I’ll be back in City X on Saturday and I’m having a combination birthday thing with some friends that night. We’re all suiting up. Should be a laugh.

In other news…

• We have a new puppy! Her name is Jessie and she’s about 12 weeks old. She’s a feisty monster who likes to chew on my hair, nose, ears, fingers and toes- but I love her to pieces.
• Jenn has found us a house to rent for the summer and the following school year. It’s gorgeous! And the rent is very reasonable. And that means I’ll be staying in City X for the summer for the first time, having a full-time job for the first time (excluding unpaid internships) and having my first rent-type situation. (I’m really looking forward to moving out of Residence X though.) So, that should lead to some adventures, problems… and plenty of blog post material.

See? Kill Jill will live on. Go figure.

Pre-Internship Blab

Arrived today in Community X, a small college town in a state/province that I’ve never spent much time in. I start work at the town’s weekly paper tomorrow morning, bright and early. Yay internship.

Ugh. “Bright” and “early.” Those two words are never welcome when one’s just been on Christmas break. Erlack.

I was supposed to start working yesterday morning but bad weather delayed me by two days. I hope those two days aren’t held against me. Hmmm. I chose a weekly newspaper this year because I was at a daily newspaper and I was stressed out of my eyeballs. I’m hoping things are a little less hectic at this place.

But either way, I’ll let you know.

How to Make Pumping Gas Awkward

(My friend Jaclyn wrote this, as it happened to her recently.)

(Photo by futureatlas.com.)

1. Pay at the pump before pumping the gas. To make this awkward, make sure you somehow are unable to access the money in you account. Try enough times that the cashier inside says he is coming out to help in a second.
2. Wait….wait….waaaait…….until a random also pumping gas come to help. To increase awkwardness, believe him when he says you can pre-pay inside.
3. Go ask the cashier if you can pay inside before pumping gas. When he says you have to pump first, insist you HAVE the money, you just don’t know if you can access it for some reason.
4. Find a $10 in you purse to hold you over until you can get to the bank to remove the rest of you money. Pump the gas.
5. (Now here is the tricky part!) Make sure the $10 bill blows away in the wind as you are walking inside.
6. Be sure to be with friends who have no money. That way, they can’t help at all. As you go in, pray to meet strangers who found your bill and are kind enough to give it back.
7. Go to the bank, get the rest of your money, go back to the same station (to prove you did indeed have the money all along) then meet up with the guy who found your money as you are leaving.
8. Tell him you in fact do not want his number when he asks. Then laugh along when he says he was kidding.

2009: A Year In Review

Despite the deaths of superstars Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, Brittany Murphy and David Carradine, 2009 was a great year.

I mean, let’s discuss all the good things that happened. There was… um… that thing… with that guy… in that place…

OK. So, maybe 2009 sucked.

Well, that’s being a little vague, I suppose. A quick Google search of “2009 events” showed the year to be quite eventful.

• Barack Obama was inaugurated, becoming the first black president.
• Iowa and Vermont legalized same sex marriage.
• Tiger Woods was hit in the head with a golf club, proving irony is still amusing.

(This is the part where I side-step the global economic crisis, H1N1 and the continuing conflicts in the middle east. A-hem.)

For me personally, it was good. I finished my first year of college, I did a 4-week internship at a daily newspaper and didn’t get hit by a car. So, all of those things are pretty positive in my opinion.

With that being said, Happy New Year! Let’s hope 2010 is better than this year was.

(Photo courtesy of Optical illusion.)

Kill Jill’s Resolutions For 2010

I hope everyone has a simply smashing holiday. Here are some goals that I plan on… um… looking into in 2010.

1. No chips. I actually gave up eating chips this summer. I’d just like to continue this goal.
2. Continue not smoking. I don’t smoke. Never have. I’d like to continue not smoking in 2010.
3. Impress people. I want to do well in my second newsroom internship, which starts on Monday. (Yikes.)
4. Avoid a full hard-drive. I have to stop downloading legally acquiring new TV shows and movies before watching the old ones I haven’t gotten around to watching yet.
5. Avoid relying on credit card too much. This speaks for itself.

So! What goals are you guys going to attempt and then forget about by February?

Last Minute Gifts on the Cheap

Students have no money. We all know this. Here are some websites to help you find cool, creative gifts for low-ish prices. Happy holidays and happy hunting!

• The 6 best last-minute gifts
• Etsy (You can search for sellers in your town so you won’t have to worry about shipping costs or time.)
• Last Minute Gifts
• 15 last minute gift ideas
• The Best and Worst Last Minute Christmas Gifts
• 15 Great Last Minute Gifts For $50 or Less

Happy Holidays!

Even though I haven’t been around much in the past few months, I just wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas and happy holidays!

This blog still means a lot to me but I just have to concentrate on school right now. I’ll be going home for Christmas break in a few days so I’ll try to put together some sort of blog post then.

Thanks guys. I adore you all!

25 Basic Study Tips for Students

This guest post is written by Angela Peterson, who writes on the topic of online psychology degrees . She can be reached at her email id: angela_peterson@rediffmail.com

Photo by estebandid.

There’s more than one way to study and each student knows what works best for him/her. But then, there are also some very basic study tips that help you get more done in less time and with greater efficiency. So here goes, 25 great study tips that every student must know:

1. Paying attention in class is the first step in studying for your exams.
2. Understand a lesson before you attempt to learn it. When you understand a subject, you’re halfway to learning it.
3. Set a schedule to study, perhaps an hour everyday even when you don’t have exams coming up.
4. Doing a little everyday helps you avoid having to cram on the eve of an exam.
5. When it comes to learning, don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today.
6. Don’t sacrifice sleep during exams – a sleep deprived brain does not function efficiently.
7. Eat more of fruits and healthy foods instead of stuffing yourself with junk food and liters of coffee or going without food when you study.
8. Don’t hesitate to pick your friends’ brain if you know it will help you study.
9. When you study, concentrate on the job at hand instead of letting people or situations distract you. Accordingly, choose a location where there is relative peace and quiet and where you will not be disturbed to do your studying.
10. Take down notes while learning – you remember better this way.
11. If music soothes you, play some in the background while studying. Some people find it helpful while others feel it is a distraction.
12. Never study with the TV on because it only distracts you from your purpose.
13. If you’re using your laptop or computer to study, disable the Internet so that you don’t get sidetracked.
14. Don’t approach your professors on the eve of an examination with your doubts. Get them cleared well in advance.
15. Organize your notes and lessons after each class so that you don’t have to scramble for them when your exams are around the corner.
16. The best time of the day to study is early in the morning when your brain is fresh and rejuvenated after a good night’s sleep.
17. Use mnemonics and other memory aids to remember names and dates – associate them with people and events that are familiar.
18. Leave some time to go review and revise your lessons before an exam. Learning them just once is not enough.
19. When you’re learning Math and other subjects where formulae are involved, practice makes perfect – the more number of problems you solve, the better and quicker you become.
20. Try combined study with a friend so that you can motivate each other and help each other when your energy and enthusiasm tend to flag.
21. Alternatively, discuss the subject with your friends. It helps you gain a deeper understanding of what you’re supposed to learn.
22. Know how to skim when you’re running short of time – when time permits, you can study in detail; but if you lack this precious resource, you must know how to speed read so that you glean all the important points with one or two quick skims of the page.
23. Some students find that audio lessons help them learn better.
24. When you teach a friend a concept, you tend to remember it more thoroughly. So if any of your friends come to you with doubts, help them out without hesitation.
25. And finally, don’t let the stress of examinations get to you. When you’re stressed, your brain stops functioning as it should and all your hard work goes to waste. So stay cool and crack your exams with good groundwork and preparation.

Interested in writing a guest post for Kill Jill? Email me with an idea.

Hiatus.

So, yeah. School and life have both decided to kick my ass to the curb, as of late, and I’ve been ignoring this blog hardcore. And I feel really bad whenever I go to update another blog and I think, “Bummer. I haven’t updated Kill Jill in forever…”

I certainly hope to continue blogging on KJ when more time becomes available.

But for right now, I just don’t have the time for it. So… see ya later?

Kill Jill’s Awesome Thing Of The Week: Drinking on a Sunday Night

First of all, I in no way encourage or condone drinking on school nights. I generally discourage it. School should be your #1 concern while at school. You’re paying a lot of money to be there so you shouldn’t blow it by getting wasted all the time, particularly during the week. it’s just not a smart idea.

Photo by _caffiend.

But if, say, you’re hanging out with friends and your friend keeps buying you sex on the beach shooters, who are you to say “No thank you.”?? Pfft. Not going to lie, Sunday night was super fun and totally worth it.

With that being said, they key to drinking on a Sunday night? Lots of water and a Motrin before bed. I felt great when I woke up for school at 7 a.m. the next morning!