Meet Emily

By EMILY BLAIR/Intern

Southwest Virginia Governor’s School presents countless opportunities to high-achieving students across the region. While it is an institution focused on math, science and technology, many of its students selected to attend have greater interest in the arts, such as music or writing. SWVGS gives students of all interests an opportunity to participate in internships at the workplace of their choosing during the spring semester of their junior year. These internships allow juniors to experience a prospective profession and can help them to decide if it is a career they would be interested in pursuing after high school. Although I am proficient enough in math and science to be comfortable attending SWVGS, my true interest lies in writing. The internship program through the Governor’s School has given me the opportunity to be an intern for nine weeks at the Wytheville Enterprise. It seemed natural to me to request an internship here because it is the premier example of journalism in the area.
I have been around the Wytheville Enterprise since before I can remember. Growing up in Max Meadows, I have attended Sheffey Elementary, Fort Chiswell Middle, and now Fort Chiswell High School. It has always been exciting to see myself and my peers in the paper for sports achievements or school activities because we know that many people will see our pictures and read our stories. The local paper allows everyone an equal chance to feel like a celebrity, if only for one week.
My passion for creative writing began when I was very young and continues to this day; it is rare if I am without a notebook to scribble ideas or poems in. My interest in journalism has increased steadily through the years and stems from the need to pursue a career that would allow me to write for a living. Journalism demands that creative talent be exercised in the parameters of public need and interest in the topic, as well as the ability to produce concise but entertaining articles. Truth and valid research trump all else because one article can bring an entire town (or, as with the Enterprise, an entire county) information about a topic that has been talked about for weeks or months. I feel that writing for a newspaper or magazine would be a challenge, but one that I would gladly embrace. I know that I will write nearly every day of my life. It would be terrific if I could earn a living doing what I so greatly enjoy.
Emily Blair is a junior at Fort Chiswell High School.