by Cassie Mattia
Contributing Biography Writing and Headshot Photography by Olivia Rohling, Sean Behling, Ty Simmons, Mahi Sheth, and Divyana Bose
Loveland, Ohio – This generation will change the world in more ways than one! One of the best ways to help mold and develop this generation’s skillsets is to give them opportunities to fine-tune their crafts. Here at Loveland Magazine, we thought one of the best ways we could make an impact on this generation is by creating an official Internship Program!
When I first began job searching after I graduated with degrees in Journalism, Marketing, and English, one of the questions I often heard in interviews or on applications was, “How much experience do you have” or “How many years of experience do you have?” Well in my mind it was pretty obvious what the response would be, “Well I just graduated from college so I haven’t had the opportunity to dive into the workforce with my degree and get experience, which is why I’m applying for this position!” How can an employer expect someone to get experience if they aren’t given the opportunity to get experience? I dealt with this dilemma for years as I was coming up in the Journalism world as every job I seemed to apply for was given to someone who had “more experience.” It was so frustrating and quite frankly demeaning as I had just spent all that time in college busting my butt to graduate with a 4.0 thinking that I would immediately land a job right after graduation.
Fast forward several years I eventually started to get opportunities but began to recognize the reason I was getting opportunities was due to all the internships I started to rack up on my resume, one being in high school for the Journal News-Middletown Journal. After becoming part-owner of Loveland Magazine, I began to think about how I could continue (my partner David Miller had students in the past intern with him) to help students get Journalism experience before they graduated but on a grander scale. I thought maybe I could help these students in some way avoid jumping over all the hurdles I had to in order to get an opportunity in journalism. That’s when the light bulb went off and the Loveland Magazine Internship Program came into conception!
With help from local schools, administrators, teachers, community members, a beautiful flyer made by David Miller, and the release of my article letting our readers know we were starting an official internship program, the word spread fast! Before we knew it we had several emails coming in every day asking for more information on the intern program and what it took to be considered. I must say it was amazing seeing how many local talented students were looking to jump-start their future with an internship! Like I said previously, this generation will change the world!
After careful consideration, I selected 5 inspirational, hard-working, motivated, and creative future journalists. Thus far we have had several meetings learning everything from taking a great headshot to writing an attention-grabbing bio to brainstorming for a feature story! I learned very quickly how impressive these 5 students are as well as how much diversity each one brings to their writing. Each one of these students brings something different to the journalism table and luckily all of our readers will get a chance to see their growth and development right before their very eyes!
One of the first assignments that I gave the 5 interns was to take a great headshot of themselves and write their own bio. After taking in my feedback and revising both their bios and headshots several times, I couldn’t be more pleased with what they have produced! I wanted to be sure that we published as much of these interns’ work as possible so that they could begin to build their professional portfolios, which is a MUST HAVE in journalism! So without further ado, I would like to welcome you to the “Intern Spotlight,” where our readers get to take the time to get to know our 2022 student interns! Be sure to give these interns a wave if you see them out in the community and of course stay tuned to their next assignment which will be their first feature story!
Mahi Sheth
“Best Short Story” award winner Mahi Sheth knows a thing or two about writing! Mahi is a creative writer who is a part of her middle school newspaper, The Roar. The way words come together to form a story is Mahi’s favorite part about journalism. In Mahi’s downtime, she also loves both reading and dancing. Mahi is a freshman at Loveland High School.
Olivia Rohling
Writer, student, introvert, Wordle player, and avid email checker, Olivia Rohling challenges herself in all aspects of her life daily! Olivia is not a stranger to the world of journalism as she was Editor-in-Chief for The Milestone, McNicholas High School’s newspaper, and currently writes for Ohio University’s The Odyssey Online. Olivia loves keeping busy, but when she does get free time she enjoys, reading, running, baking and listening to Arcade Fire. Olivia is a freshman in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.
Sean Behling
If you’re here for bland or generic writing, you’re in the wrong place! Sean Behling is an accomplished student journalist that has a plethora of experience in the Journalism field. Sean wrote a short story his freshman year that caught the attention of his English teacher which led to Sean joining his high school’s newspaper the very next year! Sean not only writes both Editorials and Entertainment news, but he also writes for his high school robotics team. Along with being a skilled writer, Sean also has extensive experience in using Adobe InDesign and editing high-quality videos in Adobe Premiere. Sean, a junior at Loveland High School, has the skills, knowledge, and friendly smile that he hopes will lead him down the path to success! Of course, if you’re looking for the same-old boring writing, Sean can lead you down the hall to the door on the left!
Divyana Bose
Award-winning sportswriter, Divyana Bose, has a passion for Journalism like no other as she often writes until her hand cramps! Divyana has made it her mission to make her high school newspaper, The Mason Chronicle, better each and every year through her writing abilities and by mentoring those that look up to her on the Mason Chronicle team! She has aspirations of making the world a better place through her writing and has begun doing so by offering her journalistic abilities to The Little Helpers, a non-profit organization that strives to better the lives of those living within the greater Cincinnati area. Divyana has a talent for making news stories come to life by using her bubbly, innovative, and outgoing personality through her writing. Divyana is a Junior at Mason High School and wants nothing more than to pursue Journalism in college.
Ty Simmons
An avid gamer, creative writer, and stand-out high school athlete, Ty Simmons knows a thing or two about Journalism! Ty is a part of his high school’s newspaper, The Leaf, and was on the official “News Crew” team in junior high. When he’s not creating maps for his very own RPGMaker game, throwing 20-pound shot-puts, or working at Dewey’s Pizza, Ty enjoys learning about the history of media and catching up with his friends on Letterboxd. There won’t be a day that goes by that Ty isn’t preaching about his latest favorite music album, video game, or film! Ty is the oldest of 3 boys and a Junior at Sycamore High School.
