My First Week at Dog Living Magazine

By Todd Parsons

Woof! Woof! Or in human terms, hello, my name is Todd Parsons, a senior Communication Studies major at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and I will be the new intern for Dog Living Magazine.  I am originally from Maryland and transferred to UNCW as a sophomore. In the past few weeks I was looking for an internship in marketing or advertising and I came across a company that worked with dogs. After some research and an interview with the editor of the magazine I knew this was what I was looking for.  I felt like I had won the lottery, I would be able to get college credit, while working and learning about dogs all day! Who wouldn’t want that? I began on August 27, 2008 and so far my first week as the new intern has been amazing.  The famous line “time flies when you’re having fun” basically summarizes my first two days on the job. As I entered the office on my first day I honestly did not know what to expect or what exactly I would be doing for the magazine.  After the tour of the office and meeting the inspiration behind the magazine, Ollie and August, Suzanne’s two loving and energetic dogs, I felt more relaxed and composed than I have for many of my previous jobs.  After making me feel at home, Suzanne and I, accompanied by Ollie and August in the office began to outline the goals and expectations for this semester for both myself and the magazine.  I can already tell I will be able to learn a lot in regards to updating websites, keeping and building relationships with subscribers and many other useful skills along the way.  I really feel privileged for this opportunity because it will help me in deciding a career path as well as teach me skills in advertising, marketing, entrepreneurship, journalism and I get to work with man’s best friend all at the same time! Suzanne’s passion, work ethic and love for dogs has made it easy for me to already feel apart of the magazine and want to help the company grow and expand in any way possible. Being around dogs and talking about them all day really makes the day brighter and I look forward to these next few months working for Dog Living Magazine.