Ed gets the warm and fuzzies whenever he gets to help out young Whippersnappers, including when he hands out his Trust Fund to one lucky unpaid intern every semester.
The latest winner is Lindsey Murray, a student at Temple University who commutes from Pennsylvania to New York City three times a week to intern at Seventeen. Yes, you read that last part correctly.
Read on to learn more about her—She’s a foodie! And into photography!—and get her advice on getting your foot in the door as a mag intern.
Tell us a bit about you, and why you wanted to get into the magazine industry.
I’m a journalism major at Temple University. Originally I started out as a broadcast telecommunications major, but I quickly learned that I was pretty awkward on camera so I started focusing on print writing more. I always loved magazines growing up, but never really thought it was possible to make a career out of my passion. Once I figured out that Temple had a magazine track as part of its journalism program, there was really no turning back.
Outside of interning and studying, I am also the editor-in-chief of Temple’s branch of Her Campus and our yearbook, so I don’t have a ton of free time. When I do, I’m a huge foodie so I love trying new restaurants and cooking for myself. I also just recently got a Canon DSLR and started dabbling with photography. I travel between Philadelphia and New York City a lot so there are always a ton of photo opportunities.
Why did you want to intern at Seventeen?
Growing up, I was most obsessed with magazines during my teen years. I placed a lot of meaning in the advice that they gave to me. As I got older, being a mentor to teen girls became really important to me and I always admired Seventeen for helping girls navigate those years on such a national level.
Once I got to college and started getting more invested into journalism, I started thinking more about the impact that I wanted to have in my career and I realized that it would be amazing to play a role in helping girls to realize their full potential. This was around the same time that Seventeen really revved up their Girl Power campaign, which encouraged girls to be their best selves. I really felt like I could relate to the magazine’s mission and knew deep down that was where I belonged.
How did your past internships prepare you for this one?
This summer, I interned at Real Simple through the ASME internship program, which was also my first time working at a national magazine. I got to attend editorial meetings, work with different departments and even write for the Web for the first time in an environment where everyone was encouraging and supportive. In addition to that, through ASME I got to attend lunches at a ton of different magazines like Glamour and The New Yorker and hear from top editors about how they became successful and what they look for in aspiring magazine editors. I paid attention and took notes during those meetings and have tried to apply as much as possible during my time at Seventeen.
What’s your daily schedule like at your internship? What’s the coolest thing you’ve gotten to do so far?
While there are a few things that I am responsible for doing every day—like compiling a list of daily news clips for editors and creating a handful of polls for Seventeen’s mobile app—no two days are exactly the same. I do everything to assist the features team from researching the next cover star to helping to find teenagers to quote in the magazine. The new Editor-in-Chief, Michelle Tan, is really hands-on as well, so she is constantly asking for input from interns, which makes me feel like I really am an important part of the team.
My coolest experience so far was definitely when I got to attend a Q&A with Meg Cabot, the author of The Princess Diaries, and got an advanced copy of the newest book in the series. She was so down to earth and encouraged us to ask questions. None of the editors in the room treated me like I was “just an intern,” which really made me realize how lucky I am to be working at Seventeen.
What are your favorite magazines, and why?
Definitely Seventeen, but that’s obvious! I love everything that Cosmopolitan is doing lately. They have a great mix of fun and serious coverage, which I think shows that they know what their readers want. I am also a huge fan of Food Network Magazine, because not only is it a beautiful and an extremely visually appealing magazine, but I also thinks it makes cooking and learning about food more fun and less pretentious than some of the other publications it competes with.
How did you hear about Ed?
After I started leaning more towards print journalism, I randomly Googled “magazine internships” just to see what was out there. Ed2010 was the top hit and was actually where I found a posting for what ended up being my first internship at Philadelphia magazine. The website is such a great hub for anything and everything related to the magazine industry and really helped me to realize that my dream of working in the magazine industry was possible.
What do you think made your Trust Fund application stand out?
I commute from Philadelphia to New York City three times a week for my internship, which I think alone shows how passionate I am about making it in this industry so I definitely made sure to include that. From there, I crafted my essay much like I would for an actual magazine, with a funny anecdote about finding a way to get to the city and begging anyone and everyone to let me sleep on their couch during the faux-snowpocolypse earlier this year. The story itself showed humor in my situation and that I could laugh at myself, but I also think it showed how driven I am. I think the most important thing was finding a way to stand out and show that I was truly deserving of Ed’s Trust Fund.
What advice would you give to aspiring interns?
I think the best advice would be to definitely plan ahead and start out small. I knew I wanted to intern at Seventeen since my freshman year, but obviously I didn’t have enough experience then. I got involved with a staff writer position with my school’s Her Campus chapter and kept building my resume from there by interning at Philadelphia magazine and another small publication called Hibu. I continued to work my way up to be an editor for my Her Campus chapter and then applied to ASME. By the time I applied to Seventeen, I already had a handful of internships and campus publication experience under my belt, which I think helped me to stick out and show that I was qualified.
What are your post-graduate plans?
Once May comes around, I’m planning on making the big move to New York City to try to get a job in the magazine industry. Ideally, I would love to write for the print side of a women’s lifestyle magazine, but I think I would be happy anywhere!
Psst! Apply to Ed’s Trust Fund yourself! Go to the bottom of the Ed on Campus page for instructions.
Chatting with Alison Goldman of Women’s Health
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