Intense interview.

So I left Friday morning and headed out to Salt Lake for my interview with the Church Magazines. I got to Salt Lake around 11:45, then met up with my cousin Brianne and her cute kids for lunch. We ate at Olive Garden! Brianne then took me to Temple Square where I waited around for a bit until my interview at 2:30.

I went into the Church Office building at 2:15ish. Once I got my badge and went through security, I rode the elevator to the 24th floor. That's 2 floors below the top floor! Anyways, I turned the corner on the 24th floor and there was Josh Perkey, the guy who emailed me directions on where to park and other instructions I needed to know for the interview. There was also another possible intern there waiting to be interviewed as well. We all talked for a little bit and I got to meet some of the current, as well as past interns who work there permanently now, as they passed us in the hall. The two editors that were doing the interviews were running 20 minutes behind... so I sat, waited, and made small talk with Josh. But it was fine. Once the possible intern went in to be interviewed, Josh and I talked about random topics. But the coolest thing was that Josh had the General Conference issue of the Ensign, and we looked through it together! I thought it was cool I got to see an ensign before it was sent out to the rest of the world :)

Finally, after waiting for 30 minutes all together, it was my turn to be interviewed. Basically to sum it up in a nutshell, there were some good and bad parts. The bad was that the head editor for the Prophets and Apostles Speak Today criticized me pretty harshly, saying that I needed to improve my writing and my portfolio could have been a lot better than it was. He also said that I could use some more experience, but isn't that what an internship is for? The good was that the same head editor said that I was sitting in that room with them because they were really impressed with me for some reason. So yeah... I had mixed feelings! Melissa Merrill, the head editor for the News and Events for the church (the internship I want to work for the most) and who also interviewed me, is a BYU-Idaho graduate. So she was all excited to have a BYU-Idaho student being interviewed.

One thing I wish would have been different was the interviews being behind schedule. The editors all had a meeting at 3, in the room I was being interviewed in. So my interview got cut WAY shorter than it was suppose to be. I feel like I didn't get to say all that I wanted to say! But oh well... that's life.

All in all, it was a good experience even though it was harsh hearing criticism on how I can be better. I asked them questions on how I can improve and they gave me some good feedback. I did the best I could and so I will find out in hopefully a week if I get to intern for them or not. But I felt so blessed having that experience and being one of the chosen few to be interviewed. Being around the editors made me all giddy inside. I think what they do for a job is so awesome. Even if I don't get the internship, the interview alone was a learning experience. I love the Church Office Building and Temple Square, and whenever I'm there I just feel at home in a way. Maybe later on in life I will end up working there! I already feel love for the people there even though I only know a few of them. It would be a dream come true if I were to work for the church!

After my interview was over, I could finally relax and enjoy myself! I went and met up with my brother and his family at Jamba Juice. My nephew Asher was so silly and he seemed to know who I was and let me hold and tickle him. After Jamba Juice I drove to Brianne's house in Saratoga Springs and had pizza and movie night with her family. It was nice to have a relaxing weekend evening doing nothing for once. I went to bed earlier than I have in a long time, but I also got up at 6:30 which is the earliest I've gotten up in a long time so I was tired. I slept good, got up and ate breakfast, visited with Brianne and Tom for a little bit then drove 4 hours back to Rexburg! I have been doing homework and cleaning ever since I got back. I also went out to dinner with my roommate Danielle! I needed this relaxing weekend to take away the stress from my interview :)