Rob Fenoglio ‘09

Ever since I was a child, I have loved to write. When I was younger, I would write fake news stories and drag my parents into the living room to listen to me report the news, write my own mini-movies, and rewrite endings to books I didn’t think end well. This summer, I was given the chance to do what I love to do.

Through the Indiana Internship Initiative, I was given the opportunity to write for the Journal Review, right here in Crawfordsville. Everyday is a new venture and allows me to do something I have never done before.

On my second day of work, I was awakened by the ringing of my cell phone – it was my editor, Maria Flora. A fire had ripped through the Silver Dollar and adjacent buildings killing one person and injuring dozens. Ironically, the previous day Maria told me that nothing exciting would probably happen during the summer.

I learned more in my first week than I could have ever hoped to learn for the duration of my entire internship. I interviewed victims of the fire, learned the art of photography, and spoke with a local taxi driver who became a hero and saved numerous lives by risking his own during the blaze.

I have also been working on my own series of stories with the Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County. On my first Friday, I was given the entire front page on my pre-coverage of the AWL’s annual Stroll for Strays. The Stroll for Strays is an event where residents can bring their own dogs or use dogs in the shelter and take them for a two-mile walk. The event raises money for the shelter.

While continuing my series on the AWL with constant visits, I met an abandoned terrier-pit mix puppy and immediately knew it was my dog. I adopted her the day I saw her and decided to name her Evey. I never thought I would get real journalism experience and a pet out of this internship.

While I have received countless front page articles and top stories during my first three weeks of my internship, there was one thing I had not done that I am especially fond of: see movies and review them.

Being a pop culture guru, I write movie reviews for the Bachelor during the school year while simultaneously performing duties as the News Editor for the student-run paper. Ever since I saw Jurassic Park at the age of six and sat in complete awe at what I was seeing, movies have become a sort of hobby. My dream is to write for movies one day, or at least be able to review them at a large newspaper or magazine, like Entertainment Weekly.

Recently, GKC Cinemas allowed me to have my own private screening of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer before its June 15th release and just the other day I was given the opportunity to screen Evan Almighty before it was released on June 22nd.

This is the epitome of what an internship should be - doing what I love to do and getting opportunities I never thought I would have. This is definitely what students would call "The Wabash Experience."