Student's View: First Week and First Impressions
By Tatiana Le, student intern, AASA, The School
Superintendents Association
As a rising sophomore at a liberal arts college
pursuing an English B.A. and looking to teach after graduating, I embody the
stereotype of the starving college snowflake destined to be paid less than my
STEM counterparts for a job I find “fulfilling.”
As such, I rushed to apply for an internship with AASA,
The School Superintendents Association, in hopes of receiving solid work
experience related to my interests. AASA is the professional organization for
more than 13,000 educational leaders in the United States and it serves its
members in different capacities from informational newsletters to advocacy.
This week was my first week here at my first
internship ever. My internship is twofold; I work with two supervisors, Jay
Goldman, editor of the School Administrator,
and Gayane Minasyan, director of online
technologies, on a variety of tasks from reviewing manuscript to sending alerts
through the AASA mobile app. This week has been a learning experience above all
else as I slowly adapt to the new environment.
On the magazine side, I’ve
learned a lot about the process a manuscript goes through, from the author’s
discovery of the AASA author guidelines to the final publication. I had the
opportunity to read rejected and accepted manuscripts and the feedback each
manuscript received from the staff. A decision can take months and some
manuscripts take years to get published because of factors like lack of an
appropriate theme.
I also had the chance to
sit in on a monthly magazine meeting with the designer to select photography
and digital artwork for the August edition. So much goes into the production of
a single magazine. The article lineup has to make sense before any of the
designing can take place. Then there has to be balance between artwork and photos.
Some photos aren’t bright enough, high quality enough or have too much empty
space. Some artwork is too expensive, needs to be commissioned or doesn’t fit
stylistically. It’s a long process full of troubleshooting.
The online technologies
side is just as complicated. With over 14 websites to manage, two national newsletters
and a sizable social media presence, there’s constantly information to find and
share. My first glimpse of AASA’s social media usage came from Deanna Atkins, digital
content manager. I have personal accounts with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn,
but I never realized what it entails to write for 24,000 plus professionals and
keep them engaged on a daily basis. There are so many leadership initiatives,
program events, hashtags and people to know when sending a two-sentence tweet.
As someone who’s relatively young and supposed to be good with social media,
this week has been a reality check.
I also enjoyed sitting in
on the webinar “How to Work Effectively with School Boards and Search Firms to
Advance Your Career” with four women leaders, Carmella S. Franco, search consultant (Calif.),
Allison Schafer, legal counsel and director of policy, School Boards
Association (N.C.), Susan Enfield, superintendent, Highline Public Schools
(Wash.) and Patricia E. Neudecker, AASA past president, director of
administrative leadership, assistant professor, Alverno College (Wis.). I never
knew that only 25% of superintendent applications in North Carolina were women
despite the fact women comprise the overwhelming majority of educators. It was
enlightening to hear stories of how women accept substandard compensation
without looking at previous contracts and advocating for themselves in
negotiations.
Overall, it’s been an educational week full of new
people, technology and office experiences. It can be overwhelming at times
considering how new everything is, but I’m looking forward to spending the next
two months of summer here.