Before I arrived at PDA for my first day as
the 2019 summer intern in the Publishing
department, I anticipated the bulk
of my days would be spent assisting with
copy editing articles for the PDA Letter.
To a certain extent, my expectations were
accurate. While working under Rebecca
Stauffer, Managing Editor of the PDA
Letter, I gained invaluable knowledge
about editing through both one-on-one
tutorials and opportunities to work independently.
However, the skills I will take
away from this summer include far more
than just how to adhere to AP style, make
a paragraph more coherent or catch serial
commas.
Most of my responsibilities involved assisting
with the preparation for the July/August issue of the Letter. Although this
involved plenty of copy editing, I also
gained a more holistic insight into the
preparation of a magazine, from mapping
out the layout (on an actual map that
hangs in Rebecca’s office), to collaborating
with Katja Yount, the Letter’s graphic
designer, about artwork accompanying
the stories and going through the various
“proofs,” or stages of editing, leading
up to the final, ready-for-print edition.
Living in a world where media is increasing
consumed online, I also saw how stories are
promoted through email newsletters, like
the PDA news uPDAte, and, sometimes
even posted to the website ahead of print.
In addition to working on one particular
copy, and perhaps more importantly, I
witnessed how PDA is working to ensure
the Letter remains invaluable to its
readers by making changes to its format
that reflect the world’s rapidly changing
patterns of media consumption. I was
lucky enough to attend meetings where
discussions took place on how the number
of annual print copies would be reduced
from ten to six in 2020 while at the same
time increasing the frequency and quantity
of online content. Witnessing changes
like these unfold taught me the importance
of keeping the big picture in mind.
Some of my other assignments included
researching upcoming articles or preparing
for interviews. One of these tasks
focused on another popular trend in
media: podcasting. Initially, I researched
a variety of recording tools and software.
I also listened to a variety of popular
podcasts to compare the difference styles
and brainstorm what would be best for a
PDA audience. Finally, I helped Rebecca
with recording a sample podcast through
the Anchor podcasting app.
Aside from working on the Letter, attending
a training course broadened my
perspective about the scope of PDA’s
work. I was lucky enough to sit in on
“Fundamentals of Aseptic Processing” and
learn from both lectures and tutorials,
including gowning demonstrations. It was fascinating to discover the level of detail
that goes into keeping manufacturing
environments sterile, especially because
I could compare these practices to my
work in EMS. When I am not at work or
school, I spend my free time volunteering
as an EMT, which required going through
a HazMat operations course. During these
classes, I learned how to suit up to protect
myself from contamination, so I confess
that I went into “Fundamentals” thinking
I knew what to expect. Instead, I discovered
the vast difference and heightened
complexity between protecting an individual
from contamination and keeping
every aspect of an environment free from
contamination.
For all the things that I learned, I also
feel fortunate that I was offered the opportunity
to make some contributions to
the PDA Letter. For instance, I received a
byline for an article and helped draft a few
other short pieces. In addition, I assisted
with writing a few press releases. Completing
tasks like these helped raise my
confidence in my writing skills.
As I head back to school this fall, I’m
excited to return to the classroom armed
with the lessons I have gathered from my
summer at PDA.