First of all, I’d like to apologize for not publishing a column in a while. I hope everyone has been staying safe and well while I’ve been gone. I haven’t been able to write a column lately because I got bogged down with the Rally for Agriculture article I wrote in the March 27 paper, and last week I got all jumbled up on my days because of Spring Break. I was so confused that I completely missed coming in at all. I suppose forgetfulness is something to look forward to in future years if my memory is this bad already. My family jokes with me sometimes and says I’m gonna have walls full of sticky notes to remind me of things when I’m older.

This week I wanted to take the time to reflect on the things I’ve learned from my internship thus far and about how things are going with my Graduation Project as a whole. I’ve learned a lot through writing my columns and the few articles that I’ve written about word count and how to make things “fluffy” and pretty for the reader to see. I’ve also learned to get through major writer’s block and Mrs. Matthews has been helpful when I’m at a loss for a topic. My spring column was more or less her idea and I ran with it; I think it turned out rather well though. I’ve also learned that I’m not the best at writing articles; I can do it, but they take a lot more effort than the typical column does and sometimes I get a little tripped up on the wording; plus it’s difficult to break that ideal that a paragraph ought to be four to five sentences long instead of being able to make it two or three sentences if need be. I’d have to say that I do think being a columnist would be a great back-up plan if being an accountant doesn’t pan out, but the news reporter ideal isn’t my cup of tea.

I’ve met many great people while working at The Sampson Independent who’ve been quite helpful. Chris Berendt has been a great friend since I’ve been here; he helps me fix articles, talks about my recently published papers with me, and just chats when it’s super quiet in the office. While covering the Rally for Agriculture, I got to meet Rep. David Rouzer and take a picture with him; I never thought I’d get to meet a person in a governmental position so that was really cool. He was very friendly and has a really nice handshake. I admire people with good handshakes; they’re just automatically more trustworthy.

Ray Starling was a great person to meet, too. He was really helpful when it came to me writing the article on The Friends of Ag, and I really felt that Sampson County was being properly represented in DC with our best interests at heart.

As far as my Graduation Project goes: it’s really getting down to the “nitty gritty”. We finished our research papers and now we’re working on our resumes. Sadly I don’t really have anything to put on it except for this internship and maybe sometimes I helped with food drives at church, but that’s been so long ago I don’t know when it was or how to write it exactly. Soon we’re going to start working on the PowerPoint presentations and getting ready for the big night when we have to present in front of a small group of judges. I’m kind of nervous, but I’m sure I’ll do just fine after I get the nerves down. I have until May to get my internship hours done and I think I ought to be able to get them done by the end of April.

If anyone would like to contact me for topic ideas or just comments on my various columns and articles I’ve written, please email me at [email protected] and I’ll try to reply in a timely manner. As always, stay safe, enjoy life, and know that someone loves you.

Cheyenne Harbison is an Early College High School student conducting her graduation project internship at The Sampson Independent.

By Cheyenne Harbison

Early College intern

Cheyenne Harbison
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Cheyenne.jpgCheyenne Harbison