Ed loves happy hours and networking as much as the average journo, but supporting new and rising talent is his real passion. At our recent Welcome to NYC Intern Party, Ed awarded unpaid interns Lauren Piro and Justin Fenner $1000 each.
MEET LAUREN: Lauren is from the small town of Hazlet, New Jersey, and is a recent graduate of Villanova University in Philadelphia where she majored in communication and journalism. This summer she’s interning at Good Housekeeping, but she has also interned at Philadelphia magazine and with the oh-so-awesome edit team at Martha Stewart Living. Dream job? Anything that will combine her two loves – magazine editorial and searching for (and eating!) the best food she can find.
HER WINNING ESSAY SNAPSHOT: What it boils down to for me is simple – I am not an accountant, no matter how “secure” their jobs may be. Magazine editing is absolutely what I want to do. In fact, it is more than a dream for me at this point. It is a reality I am working toward accomplishing every day. I became a bookstore magazine-rack moocher, bought countless issues with my college meal plan instead of, well, meals, and of course, wrote, interned, and wrote some more (hell, I even blogged, Tweeted, and quacked – or, whatever).
MEET JUSTIN: Justin was born in the Philippines and has traveled all over the world with his dad, who works for the government. Most recently, he hails from Charleston, SC, but has lived in North Carolina, California and Guam, among other places. In the fall, he’ll enter his fourth year at the University of South Carolina’s Honors College, where he studies journalism and Spanish. He currently works at Footwear News, a fashion weekly all about news that’s owned by Condé Nast. It’s his first internship, though he’s been the EIC of his school’s student magazine, the Garnet and Black, and features editor of his student newspaper, The Daily Gamecock. Someday, he hopes to be the editorial director of the Condé Nast publication group, but he also wouldn’t mind the job of White House Press Secretary.
HIS WINNING ESSAY SNAPSHOT: Even if I have to go into debt and work multiple part-time jobs, I’m going to New York this summer. Condé Nast has been my dream company since I started reading GQ at age 13. It led me to many of Condé Nast’s other titles, all of which I love. They’re the magazines you think about when you hear the word ‘magazine.’ My biggest dream is to become Condé Nast’s editorial director. And you’d better believe future Anna Wintours and Graydon Carters will have to answer to me when I get the job.
CONGRATULATIONS, LAUREN AND JUSTIN!
Q+A: Ellen Gordon Reeves, author of Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?
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