Mary Beth LaRue, soon to be assistant editor at National Geographic Traveler magazine

By Nicole Lenz

One particular story assignment UI Senior Mary Beth LaRue had for Jane Magazine was to go around to bars in Manhattan and ask bathroom attendants how to get out of paying for their services.

She laughed as she recalled barhopping all over Manhattan with friends and struggling to get the bathroom attendants to speak to her.

LaRue interned from May to August the summer before her senior year with Jane Magazine in Manhattan, New York. She said it wasn’t easy landing the internship and making the arrangements to get there. She was one of a hundred that interviewed.

“I had low hopes to say the least,” said LaRue.

Before getting her Jane Magazine internship, she applied for many others, including Utney and National Geographic. LaRue was offered an interview at Jane and soon after she bought a plane ticket to Manhattan.

“You have to be proactive,” she said, “You’re going to have to work really hard.”

To her surprise, LaRue said many of the other applicants went into the interview not knowing much about the magazine. LaRue said that her hard work and reseacxrh paid off because she received the internship. She also stressed clips are very important when applying for an internship. As well as being open to various fields you are interested in, i.e. “applying everywhere.”

Even though she realized the fashion industry isn’t for her, she enjoyed the experience and found that it reinforced her love for magazine publishing.

Accepting new responsibilities

LaRue said she transcribed interviews, researched celebrities, organized photo shoots, and even got to write a few things, all without the help of formal training.

“There was no training,” said LaRue. “You just have to do it.”

Although she enjoyed most of her assignments at Jane, it wasn’t all fun and games. There were some times when she had to busy herself as much as she could because there wasn’t a lot for her to do.

There were also times she made mistakes and was forced to accept the repercussions.

“You have to be really thorough,” LaRue said, recalling a time that she accidentally sent statistics to the wrong company and had to fix the problem herself.

Although the magazine industry isn’t as fast as the newspaper industry, she said she enjoyed the high-energy atmosphere at the magazine as well as the perks of meeting celebrities such as Jenna Elfman and Janice Dickenson.

Kathie Gartel, online editor for National Geographic Traveler said, “When we choose students for our internships, we look for people who have interesting experiences and have shown an ability to write and report stories.”

LaRue will be joining the Traveler staff full time this June as an assistant editor. She was able to get this job at the Traveler because of her previous internship and her experiences. She said one of her most meaningful lessons was that of professionalism.

“You can’t talk with your friends the way you talk to your boss,” said LaRue.

One of the biggest things she has learned from these internships has been accountability.

“We treat our interns as our employees and expect a high quality of work from them,” said Gartel. She said that accurate work is expected from their interns. Instead of getting coffee and taking lunch orders, their interns are able to work on magazine assignments.

So, any regrets for Mary Beth LaRue as she heads out into the real world after graduation?

“Not at all,” said LaRue. “I’m excited for my job.”