It's hard to believe I've finally arrived at my final blog post. When I started this blog, the end seemed so far away. Now there are less than 3 weeks until school starts and I leave my internships. I know I've said this so many times already, but it's mind-blowing how quickly time flies by when you're busy.

As much as I enjoyed this summer, if I'm going to be honest, it somewhat failed to meet my expectations. I thought working at THR would be a lot more dynamic than it really was. I'd hoped to do some writing and reporting, but in the end, all my days were spent in the office doing the same tasks over and over again. Contrary to what I thought at the beginning of the summer, the internship wasn't very interactive. Similarly, LA INC turned out to be a very stiff, aloof working environment. As much as I loved the work I did, I was only in the office two days a week, so I didn't get to do everything I could've done. I definitely regret that aspect of the summer.

However, I'm confident that I've added valuable experience to my repertoire. I was working on my cover letter for a fall internship application, and I realised that I have so much more knowledge to draw upon now. This summer was also important because it cemented my career goals: now I know I definitely want to work in entertainment/hospitality marketing, and that learning the skills required for such a job won't be impossible.

As I look ahead to the year ahead, I feel more apprehensive than excited. I feel burdened with a great deal of pressure: pressure to network, pressure to find an internship at a more prominent company, pressure to start looking for jobs, pressure to decide what I want to do after graduation, and, most of all, pressure to enjoy my last year in college. I look around, and all my friends have already completed internships I still dream about -- internships at companies like Fox, Universal, New Line, Disney, and Paramount; internships that have introduced them to very influential people. I love working for smaller companies, because it allows me to get more involved, but I feel I need to challenge myself with a more demanding workplace before I can really attack my job search with vigor.

So that's my goal for next semester. I want to study hard but work harder. I plan on continuing my job at Katsuya in hopes of climbing the SBE ladder, and if I can't find the perfect internship, I'll also be working on campus at the new Moreton Fig restaurant. Hopefully in between all of that I'll find time to continue my exploration of Los Angeles.

It looks like I've fallen a bit behind on my blogging -- I just checked the syllabus, and it looks like my five entries are due this Wednesday. Since there won't be much to catch up on in this post and the next, I'll try to keep them as succinct as possible.


LA INC

As my time here draws to a close, I'm starting to realise that I haven't formed any of the close relationships with my coworkers. This doesn't necessarily bother me, since I just do my own thing most of the time and I feel comfortable enough with my supervisor, but I have to admit it doesn't really feel right. Honestly, the time has just flown by here because I'm always so busy, and I don't feel like I've really changed since I arrived. The best way to explain it is that I don't feel like I was ever a part of LA INC: it feels more like I was a spectator observing the company for a few week. I have to say, though, that I learned a great deal about marketing, and I had some very invaluable hands-on experience. Things like writing that social media marketing proposal for Mummies of the World (which my supervisor presented to Mummies of the World to a very positive response, according to him) were completely new to me before I did them, and now I have a general sense of what to do if I'm ever told to do something similar in the future. Tomorrow I'm going on a "field trip" with my supervisor to Hollywood, where we'll ride one of those celebrity tour buses (our company is partners with the company that creates those). It will be a nice chance to get out of the office and get to know my supervisor, and hopefully I'll find an opportunity to interview him for my assignment.

THR

I honestly can't say I've learned anything from this internship, either. It's been fun, and I've definitely picked up some information about the entertainment industry, but I could have done everything on my own. As much as I hate to say it, my internship here wasn't really a valuable experience -- I pretty much just did the same basic tasks over and over again. It's not anyone's fault, as the job itself doesn't really provide many learning opportunities. It's essentially a good name to put on your resume. However, I'm glad I got to meet my supervisors, as they've been very kind to me, and I definitely feel comfortable enough about our relationships to contact them in the future should I ever need to. (Speaking of contacting supervisors, my previous supervisor from Valhalla who I didn't think liked me actually Facebook messaged me the other day to say hi and let me know that I was one of his favourite interns and I should ask him if I ever need advice -- crazy, right?) I still haven't told them if I'm going to stay or leave, but I've pretty much decided to leave, as I don't feel like I'll get anywhere if I stay.

University Link

I'm actually enjoying my freelance job very much. My editor Rebecca is great -- she's very understanding, and she knows I'm a huge fan of Glee so she went out of her way to get me an interview with Harry Shum Jr (I did the interview yesterday -- after a few glitches with my phone, it went smoothly). I wrote a short article about double majoring the other day and it made me realise that I really enjoy writing about topics that I have personal experience with. While I definitely don't foresee myself pursuing a journalism job in the future (despite all the journalism experience I have by now), this freelance job is a good way to get writing experience without putting too much stress on myself.

Katsuya

Nothing has really changed since my last update. I think by now I've gotten past the "new" phase of my employment, because people are starting to complain to me and criticize some of the things I do. The managers are definitely more strict when it comes to me messing up. While I've started to befriend some of my coworkers, I'm still finding it difficult to strike up a conversation with others. I know I should just mind my own business, but I'm very self-conscious about these things. I've become friends with one of the other hostesses, Liberty, and she mentioned to me after we worked two nights at Gladstone's that the lead host there didn't like me because he thought I was too catty and controlling. It's frustrating, because I'm just trying to watch out for myself (they're very disorganised over there so I don't always trust their direction), but in the process I give off a self-important vibe, and I don't mean to. Liberty told me I should just accept that I won't always get along with everyone and move on. I'm going to try hard to incorporate that philosophy into my working attitude from now on.

Los Angeles

With all the time I spend working, I pretty much haven't had any free time since several weeks ago. In a way, work is like my free time -- I get to interact with other people and do what I love. Still, I have a feeling I won't have achieved most of my goals by the time school starts in three weeks. A few things I definitely want to do, though, are the Outdoor Cinema Food Fest (running every Saturday until August 21, which is my 21st birthday), a trip to LACMA, and a visit to Catalina Island. I don't know how realistic the last one is since there's very little time left, but I'm going to try my best, because it's my last chance to go before next summer -- and who knows what I'll be doing by then?