This internship was the jumpstart of my career. Full stop. BUT my parents helped me with my Washington, DC rent. I couldn't afford it otherwise. Remote internships are a way to level the playing field. We should be talking about them long after the pandemic. https://twitter.com/laurelwamsley/status/1291444749761748992

Also, as a 21-year-old from Philly, I had NO IDEA where to look for housing in DC. I chose a way overpriced option kinda far from the office because I was panicked about getting housing. 2/

I've known other interns, especially at USA TODAY, which is located in the suburbs and is a hard commute on public transit, who have had bad housing situations because there is little time/assistance in finding stuff they can afford 3/

There would definitely be some stuff lost in remote internships post-pandemic, but there would be SO MUCH GAINED. And we can start now to try to figure out how to get the in-person experienced replicated better 4/

That means we should all be mentoring our remote interns, introducing them to others in the 'newsroom,' getting 'coffee,' having intern social virtual events, etc.

I'm very passionate about fixing internships because I know what they did for me. I had so much privilege to make the system work for me. I wanna pay that forward. Here to consult on your internship programs, newsrooms!!!! /fin