Changing Perspectives at New You Magazine

I’m sad that my internship is coming to an end soon as I approach my final few weeks here at New You Magazine. As I have become more familiarized and accustomed to this type of environment, I have realized that it is important to not be too shy in this type of workplace culture. Firstly, it’s important to just be able to communicate on a friendly basis with all of the employees here so that’s you feel more comfortable and have acquaintances at the office. Also, I know that there are certain times when I need to speak up if I have a comment or question in order to make sure my work is done properly. As the weeks have gone by, I actually feel like I have really figured out what I want to do with my life after college, which is exciting! The workplace here and encounters with this culture have definitely helped me achieve this accomplishment.

My encounters with this culture have not really changed my perspective of this work environment since my initial environmental impressions. I still sit at the same cubicle, but I do notice that at certain times, it can be hard to sit here all day long. I try to make sure to take a walk a couple of times a day or a coffee break. Also, my cubicle is set up where there are 3 other people in my “quad.” Since I started working here, people have been moved around so I have had about 3 different "quad mates." It is interesting to meet new people and hear what they do for the company, but I also had to get used to their work habits. My cubicle still sits in front of this huge wall where the latest issue of the magazine is spread out. 

The office environment is still noisy, but I have really become accustomed to it and learned to be able to work even if it is loud. I have noticed a lot of people wear headphones and listen to music all day, so I sometimes do that too. It helps and makes time go faster.

Some new observations I have made is that a lot of people, in addition to email, use the office phone as a source of communication. Each person has an extension to a phone that sits at their desk. My phone rings often and at certain times, people who I have never met are calling me. At first, I would get nervous, but now I like when the phone rings- I feel like a true employee! Additionally, everyone is super friendly to each other. Whenever people just pass one another through the building, people are sure to smile and say hi, even if they have never met before. I really like that aspect of the environment here. Finally, I initially thought that I would just be sitting in front of a computer all day long and communicate with very few people. This was how it was for the first few days, but as the days passed, I actually went to a bunch of meetings with different departments. It was really interesting to be able to share my opinion and see how the departments and employees interact with one another.

I have truly learned so much from my experience here. It is so interesting to see what goes on “behind-the-scenes” of a magazine and how much work really has to be put in. I have learned that for any job, you do have to work hard and give it your 100% all the time.