Learning Curve at Current

Me and Anna, working at her apartment for the day.

By Dean’s Intern Kayla Benjamin at Current

In one episode of The Office, Michael, confused about a financial concept, says to Oscar: “explain it to me like I’m five.” My first week interning with Current, I found myself speaking with a public radio CEO and a famous jazz music reporter for my first story. My knowledge of the public media world was limited; my knowledge of jazz was nonexistent. In interviews, I wanted to say to people, “please – explain it to me like I’m an intern.”

Working in the virtual environment has also been a learning curve for me, too – even after 2 and a half semesters of online school. It takes more initiative to ask for a video call over Slack than to start a conversation with someone at the next desk over. So, once every couple weeks, the other Current summer intern, Anna Brugmann, and I pick a day and work together in person. I’m more productive and more creative when I leave my apartment and work in a more collaborative environment – even with just one other person.

Five stories and seven weeks later, I’ve learned a ton about how I can set myself up for success in the workplace, even a virtual one. I’ve also learned a lot about how public media works (and a few things about jazz). With each assignment, I feel a little less like I’ve been thrown into the deep end and a little more like I’m at least diving in on purpose. Still, with each new piece, I’ve also made new mistakes, from missing embarrassing typos to forgetting to quote important voices. It’s a steep learning curve, but I try not to make the same mistakes twice.