It’s May 21, 2020, and, for some reason, it feels like summer already in my tiny flat in South East London. Although I am still busy writing my internship report, I feel way more relaxed than I have been over the course of the past four months. My internship at Dazed — one of the UK leading fashion and culture magazines — has sadly come to an end two weeks ago. With that, has ended my 7 am—7 pm routine, which saw me transcribe an incredible amount of interviews featuring some of my favourite artists, research and write articles, as well as collaborate on a myriad of different tasks with the rest of the editorial team. So far, this has been the most stressful, exciting, and rewarding experience I have ever had, and I couldn’t be more proud of the way I managed to handle it (COVID-19’s implications included).
I moved to London on January 28, aware that, only five days later, I would start an editorial internship at one of the most prominent international publications. I was thrilled, frightened, and incredibly joyful, all at once. After packing all my stuff in less than 24 hours, I embarked on this new journey, full of expectations and hope for the future that awaited me. Born and raised in Italy, in the past five years I had already lived in two other countries, Denmark and the Netherlands: relocating wasn’t unusual to me, yet, this time it felt different. Maybe, deep down, I knew this would have — finally — been a long-term destination. Until my next escape…
“So far, this has been the most stressful, exciting, and rewarding experience I have ever had, and I couldn’t be more proud of the way I managed to handle it” — Gilda Bruno
Dazed taught me how to be a good journalist and manage my time efficiently when multitasking between transcripts, pieces of writing, and article uploads. Throughout my stay, I gained new practical and social skills that will — hopefully — enable me to successfully venture into a very competitive job market. Not only have I learned to comply with the very specific style guidelines of a magazine and adapt my writing to its vision and values; but I have also acquired the right dose of professionalism in carrying out any other task I might be assigned to. The most important lesson of my placement? Ask! Asking when in doubt should be the silver lining guiding you through your working experience as an intern. When working under pressure, this will be your last resort to understand what task to prioritise and not to be overwhelmed by the pile of work you might have to deal with.
Contrary to my expectations, from March 15 onwards, I ended up working completely from home. Dazed’s office was in fact shut down as a result of the spread of coronavirus, forcing the entire editorial team to readapt its schedule to a new fully-digital dimension. At first, this was rather challenging and demotivating: all of the sudden, I had to realise that I would not have a lot of time to get to know my colleagues, nor to prove to them how I could positively contribute to the magazine. Nonetheless, due to the circumstances, the number of people working full-time for the publication was temporarily reduced; meaning that my role became increasingly important. In the time spent working from home, I had the chance to publish numerous articles and work on Dazed 100 — a talent scheme aiming at supporting emerging personalities working in the arts, music, politics, and more.
Working at Dazed broadened my horizons, giving me the motivation needed to pursue a career in journalism. Surrounded by young and talented colleagues, I realised that hard work and devotion can make me achieve unexpected results, pushing beyond the boundaries of my own limits.