By Kara Cuzzone
If you had asked me about my post-grad plans a little over a year ago, I would have answered with a shrug and a tentative, “Maybe a year of service?” While doing a year of service is a fitting option for a lot of students, for me, it was more of a placeholder; a way to buy myself more time to figure things out. Then, I did the New York Semester Program and that all changed.
During my first year at Holy Cross, I discovered my passion for writing through being an editorial contributor for thelala.com, a website for college-aged women. After applying on a whim, I fell in love with pitching story ideas and writing my own articles. In the back of my mind, I wondered if maybe I could turn this newfound passion into a career one day, but I wasn’t sure what that would even look like. So when I learned that I could intern in women’s media through the New York Semester Program I thought, “This is my chance to see what it’s really like.”
Thanks to some help from the Center for Career Development, as well as advice from former New York Semester participants, I landed an internship position as a features intern for the print divisions of Cosmopolitan and Seventeen magazines. Fast forward to late January, and I found myself entering Hearst Tower and riding the infamous escalators in what felt like my very own movie scene. It would be nice if I could say that from that first day, I knew I belonged in the editorial world. However, that just isn’t true. The truth is that it took a couple of months in the position for me to realize two things: I wanted to work in women’s media someday, but I was curious about what working on the digital side of women’s media would be like.
With these new revelations in mind, I decided to start looking for a summer internship at a digital publication. I ended up securing one at byrdie.com, a beauty and wellness site. From day one, it was a completely different experience than working at Hearst. My internship at Byrdie exposed me to the fast-paced world of digital content creation. It also solidified my belief that, at least at this point in my life, I prefer the cadence of digital publishing.
Because of these internship experiences, I know that I want to move back to New York City and pursue a writing career in women’s media after graduation. Not only that, but since I have already had experience in both the print and digital sectors, I can use my insights from those positions to seek out publications that I think will be a good fit for me. I also met wonderful editors through both internships who I feel confident in turning to for advice on the job search process. Had I not done the New York Semester program, I highly doubt I would even know where to begin in forming my post-grad plans.
Kara Cuzzone ’19 is a senior Anthropology major. Read more of her work at karacuzzone.com
