internship Archives

What a crazy week! I am spinning from how much has happened.

This will be a short and sweet post because I am swamped with stuff I need to get done.

Freelancing on fiverr.com

Yesterday, I completed my first ever Fiverr gig. It was a fun experience, and the buyer that I worked with amazing. Check out my services on fiverr.com, I offer Beta Reading, Blog/Article Writing, and Critiquing Creative Writing.

Internship

After a week-long break, I am back to work for my internship. I am excited to read new submissions and gain more experience. This internship has been incredibly fun so far, and I think this is because it is a professional and well-organized internship. So much better than my last internship!

Freelancing for Friends

Yesterday, I was called by one of my close friends and asked to help them edit and format their short stories. I am excited to be doing this extra freelance work on the side. I never thought people I know would be reaching out to me for my help on things I love to do!

More Freelancing…

Currently, I am reaching out to numerous online magazines and journals, pitching them stories. Hopefully, I will catch a Freelance assignment soon and make some more extra cash.

Free Online Classes

Right now I am taking free online courses through edx.org

I am enrolled in the following courses

Writing for Social Media
Intro to Music Theory
Ancient Masterpieces of World Literature
The Icelandic Sagas

And I have already enrolled in English Grammar & Style that starts on July 26th. I think this course will help me hone my editing and writing skills.

Patreon

I am updating my Patreon page. I haven’t worked on it since last Spring, and it has been severely neglected. It’s been on my mind lately, and I’ve been thinking about how I could utilize my Patreon page and provide more of an intimate “behind-the-scenes” access to my personal writing life to my blog and social media followers. Here is what I am putting together:

For PATRON-ONLY Access (Monthly Subscribers)

Scanned copies of my handwritten poems (not published anywhere else online)
Scanned copies of my daily writing notes (not published anywhere else online)
Exclusive videos available to PATRONS-ONLY featuring me reading some of my poetry and writing
Podcast-like updates about what is going on in my life related explicitly to pursuing my writing career, working on my novel, submitting poems to literary journals, and what I am currently reading

Starting today, I will be offering “Handwritten Thank You Card + Poem” to all Patrons; this unique offer is scheduled to end on 06/30/2020 at 12:00 p.m.

These handwritten Thank You Cards with be accompanied by one of my handwritten poems, unique and never published. Thank you, cards, and poetry will be mailed to Patrons directly via snail mail.

I will be updating posts and content on my Patreon page for the next week, and I will be posting new PATRON-ONLY content starting Friday.

New Toys!

My bf got me a Rocketbook for my birthday and decided to give it to me early. It is so cool. What it is is a reusable notebook that you use to write and scan pages directly to your email and/or Google Drive cloud. This is a fantastic tool, and I will be using it all the time. It will be my tool of choice for posting PATRON-ONLY handwritten poems, notes, and writing to my Patreon page.

New Kindle! For the first time since I was laid off back in March because of COVID-19, I have bought something I don’t need a new kindle! It is beautiful, waterproof, and I love it.

Job Search & Interviews

Lately, I have been burning out. In the last three days, I have applied to an average of eight jobs every day. It has been exhausting, and I feel like my brain is fried. I am trying to not stress out, but with June fast approaching, I am worried I won’t be able to find full-time work before the CARES ACT unemployment runs out (end of July). But I am staying positive, I have been able to save money, pay off debt, and pay my rent and bills.

This week I had an excellent interview for an Editor Position at a local business. Fingers crossed I make it to the next round of interviews. This position is part-time and would be perfect for my schedule. I also have a video interview through HireVue that I have to complete, it is for a Copywriter position, so I hope that that one goes well.

Overall

It has been a great week, and my days are packed. From 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. I am working in my office at home getting as much done as I can until dinner time.

Thank you for reading about my personal life during these strange days. What I think is bizarre right now is how it is beginning to feel normal staying home all of the time because of COVID-19. This new normal is unsettling to me and my bf, but I can’t help feeling that this will be the new normal for the rest of the year. Staying home, working from home, being…home.

Stay safe and stay healthy!

-Alina

Want to become one of my Patrons? Go to my page here and join a tier. All patrons regardless of Tier have access to all of my patron-only content right now! Tiers start at $3/month!

Subscribe! Get notified when new posts are published plus once a week I will send content just for you: poem, personal update, reading list, writing tips and more!

Why I’m Not Celebrating Independence Day This Year(Opens in a new browser tab)

My Stories on Medium: Poetry, Writing and Freelancing(Opens in a new browser tab)

Life During COVID-19 (6/6/2020): George Floyd Protests and My White Woman Privilege(Opens in a new browser tab)

Job Search

I am focused on applying to jobs. I’m specifically looking for remote work because I think in the long run it makes sense to work from home in case Covid-19 flares up later this year. It’s hard to find remote work, especially in writing fields that isn’t freelance. Finding positions that offer full benefits, time off, a flexible schedule and a good 401k are rare. My goal is to find remote work so I won’t have to work in a restaurant after the stay-at-home order is lifted in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Internship!

Yesterday, I got a Literary Internship for a publishing house. This internship is unpaid but requires only 10-15 hours of work per week. It is valuable experience that I know I need to help build up my resume. My career goal is to work for a publishing house in publishing/editing. This internship is an exciting opportunity and I get the feeling it will be a positive experience.

I know that I can balance full-time work (when I find it) and my internship with everything else I do: blogging, writing, reading, art, and music.

Utah & COVID-19

The stay-at-home order issued by Governor Gary Herbert through May 1st, will presumably be lifted by the end of this week. I am still checking twitter and local news for updates from Salt Lake City’s Mayor Erin Mendenhall. We’ll see what happens, what regulations will be put in place by the Utah Department of Health for restaurants to be have dine-in service. It will be interesting to see what happens this week and the next.

Current Covid-19 stats for Utah

Summary: Total Cases 4233, Total Reported People Tested 100195, Total Covid-19 Hospitalizations 349, Total Covid-19 Deaths 41

Population of Utah (estimated) 3,282,115

A Tiny Opinionated Rant

I believe it is important to save lives and stop the spread of Covid-19 as effectively as possible. It is frustrating to hear about protests saying the stay-at-home order is unconstitutional. I think these people fail to realize the gravity of the situation and that having no vaccine for Covid-19 makes this a serious matter. The argument to sacrifice the weak to open up the economy is revolting.

If anything these people that are protesting against the stay-at-home orders across the nation should be protesting against Trump’s failure as POTUS to handle Covid-19. They should be protesting the government’s pathetic attempt to ‘help’ Americans financially: a one-time check of $1,200 is a slap in the face, the $600 add-on to weekly unemployment is more helpful right now but not for those that are having trouble filing for unemployment.

Trumps response time to Covid-19, his ignorance to take it seriously, his continual suggestions to ingest disinfectants, his failure to help state governor’s, and his continual back and forth indecision about almost every little thing is unacceptable. The man is an idiot and his presidency is a joke. My main concern is voting for this years presidential election. With the spread of Covid-19 and everyone trying to just make it through, the risk of the election being ‘manipulated’ with the excuse of Covid-19 I think is a very real possibility.

End of My Poetry Workshop

Yesterday was the last day of the Free Poetry Workshop taught by Natasha Saje. This workshop was about four months long and I absolutely loved it. Saje is amazing, she taught me so much and I look forward to staying in touch with my fellow students.

Facebook

I finally caved. I am extremely opposed to Facebook but over the last few weeks I have realized when it comes to putting my writing out there and connecting with readers, having a Facebook Profile and Page is a necessity. Below are links to my Profile and Page.

I will be using my Profile for personal/writing updates and my Page is specifically for all content I post to my blog.

Alina’s Facebook Profile

Alina’s Facebook Blog Page

Reading

I finished reading Joan Didion’s Where I Was From

This was a great read. I started it the last week of March and took my time with it. Didion talks about her family history which creates a sort of ‘bookend’ structure for the rest of the book. The meat of it is a detailed history of California, specifically Sacramento where she is from. It was an informative read and I have a craving for more Didion, so I might be raiding my boyfriends bookshelf very soon (he has most of her books).

Uncertainty and Relief

I am hopeful that a gradual re-opening of Salt Lake City will be successful. Our case counts and deaths are very low in comparison to the rest of the nation. But I think there is a real risk at opening the state too soon and a second wave could rip through Utah and our deaths could increase rapidly.

Thank you

I hope that you are safe and well wherever you are. Thank you for reading about my life during Covid-19. Feel free to respond, comment, or contact me directly.

Best,

Alina

Become a Subscriber! Get notified when new posts are published plus once a week I will send content just for you: poem, personal update, reading list, writing tips and more!

If you enjoyed this post, check out these:

Life During COVID-19 (5/5/2020): Tutoring, Freelancing on Fiverr and Job Searching(Opens in a new browser tab)

Life During COVID-19 (5/21/2020): Novel Writing, My Birthday and Opinions(Opens in a new browser tab)

Life During COVID-19 (6/6/2020): George Floyd Protests and My White Woman Privilege(Opens in a new browser tab)