My Story
I am sitting at a tall wooden table, frantically scanning resources on the Internet. I finish off my fourth Coke as I pray the caffeine will move me faster in the direction I want to go. Everyone else is working and the room is quiet. The overhead radio tries to grab my attention away from the bright laptop staring back at me. I’m looking for information on roller hockey or tractor parts or mountain bikes or fishing or computers. Whatever it is, I need more if I want to write a great article about my topic. Time is ticking down, and as I tear apart and reassemble my own work, I know I am cutting it close for the sake of creating something better. It’s thrilling, terrifying, exhausting, intriguing, exciting, interesting and I love it.
Working at Privila was fun yet challenging at the same time. Never before did I think a job existed which required this kind of work. Each week I had five articles due on a variety of subjects, with deadlines for each one. As soon as knew what my assignments were, I’d be off working my way through any website related to my topic until I found some reliable sources that I could reference for information. Some assignments were harder than others. However, the challenge each topic presented made it even more satisfying upon completing the article by deadline, and that’s why I loved working there.
I chose to take an internship with Privila because I needed professional experience in writing and this sounded like a very unique and interesting opportunity. It was nice to have so many pieces of writing published. My internship experience with Privila sits at the top of my resume.
Aside of the enjoyment I got from writing the articles, the office atmosphere was great as well. Fending off the slump created by your typical suit and tie/ cubicle office, Privila feels more like working in your own living room. The atmosphere is very laid back with couches and armchairs available if you become tired of sitting over a table. What made me feel most at home was the endless supply of drinks and food. Instead of just the usual water cooler and coffee pot (although those were both present) there was an entire fridge loaded with pop, juice and any other bottled beverage you can think of. Several snacks were also available, like chips and cookies. In fact, this didn’t exactly make me feel at home, because my home would never have such a surfeit of snacks and drinks to choose from.
Even better than this was the lunch that the company bought every day. That’s right, every day we would order take-out from a different restaurant for lunch. I’m not talking McDonald’s, Burger King or any other fast food conglomerate that would have you fighting to keep your lunch down. In many cases we ordered from well established restaurants.
Working at Privila was a lot of fun and I miss being there, but I currently need to focus on work that is paid. I gained a lot of experience in writing for the Internet due to my internship with Privila. If I could find a paying job like this one, I would be set.
-- submitted by Jared Brewner, Chicago, Illinois
(Journalist via in-house, Fall 2006)
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